Friday, November 21, 2014

Doing and Undoing

Where is time going?! It seems that just a few days ago these fellas were here. They returned home last Sunday.

As you can see, we visited Legoland. The Florida Legoland is the largest of all the Legoland parks. 

The little boys had talked about it for months (every time I visit them, I take them to the Kansas City Legoland). In spite of our long car ride to Winter Haven, and a five year-old's and 62 year-old's meltdowns, we had a good time. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. 

Tay's favorite thing was watching the "fire department," a performance put on by a crew of six young, acrobatic adults. The antics and comedy were slap-stick - perfect for a five year-old boy.

Aesa watched that show attentively, but told me his favorite activity was riding the big Coastersaurous. He barely made it past the height requirement.

While at our house, Aesa also turned out to be a boccé ball enthusiast, an outdoor activity we enjoyed several times.

After the boys left, and it was a tearful parting, I took my heavy-heart to my sewing room. I began by addressing a problem with my Kaffe Fassett quilt. A few months ago, I pin-basted this 61" X 61" quilt, and had started quilting one of the blocks - the pink block in the lower left corner. (No picture of it quilted.)

With a blue wash-out marker, I had marked a few registration marks that I later spritzed with water, to remove the marks. See what happened? The pink petals fabric bled to the quilt back! I sure don't know what I've done to deserve so much heart-ache with recent marks and bleeding on my quilts!

So my "undoing" was to remove all the quilting I'd put in, and un-pinbaste the whole thing. 

Next I'll be washing the quilt top - it's apparent that the fabric in these blocks (won in a giveaway) were not pre-washed, something I always do. Then, I'll give sandwiching another go, including using a new backing fabric. (sigh)

Other Odds and Ends
I finished my bias tape challenge quilt, including making a label.

This quilt, and "Ad Libbing," have both been officially entered into QuiltCon (February, 2015). The quilt show entry deadline is November 30. Whether these will be accepted into the show or not remains to be seen. In any case, full reveals of both quilts are yet to come.

I've begun making a pin cushion for the December 8 swap at our CentralFloridaMQG meeting.

I also made another Christmas stocking, like these made these in late 2012 when our son and his family still lived in Florida. This past January they became a family of four.

Thank goodness I wrote a blog post about making them, as I needed to reference it to make a stocking like the others! Unfortunately, the free download of the stocking template is no longer available, but I was pleased to find my print-out in my big notebook of Miscellaneous saved freebies. Whew.

What I didn't note is the font I'd used to create the names, so I had to go through about 12,000 of them on my MacBook Pro to find the one that matched. It's Tekton Pro font. LJ's stocking fits nicely into the family.

After a thorough Pinterest search of English paper piecing projects, I've selected a couple designs for away-from-home sewing in the months ahead. I always print and cut my own papers, so prep time is a little more involved. But, I'd like to think I'm being frugal, a German trait that comes naturally to me. I'm using my Sew Together bag for carrying and storing everything. 

Have you seen the EPP Millefiore Quilt Along that's coming up in January? The along is based on Katja Marek's new book The New HexagonIf you love EPP as I do, you'll want to follow her on Instagram to learn more. Linda

12 comments:

  1. Wow, you have certainly been a busy busy lady. Such sweet little boys and so special to have time with them even if they did wear you out. As for your quilting woes . . . hang in there. Your work is beautiful. I've thought of you several times as I quilted my entry this week. It's a good design but the quilting could be so so much more. I'll need lots more practice to have your talent for the free motion quilting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm like Anne--I've thought of you multiple times this week as I've quilted, too! You are such a great example for me and have taught me a lot. Glad you hear you got your grease stain out, and that you finished up your quilt.

    All my Kaffe's were pre-washed, so no worries from the scraps! What a heart-break. I used a sponge and Q-tip this morning to get my blue marker out, as I was worried about the bleeding through. Sorry you had to unpick everything!

    I'm going to get myself a binder like yours--I've used folders in the past, but they just aren't enough.

    Elizabeth

    ReplyDelete
  3. wow you HAVE been busy! Hope you've been feeling well.

    Lego land looks like great fun with your 2 little guys. And I agree - you don't deserve the quilt-marking frustrations!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Glad to hear you "survived" the busy week with the grandsons and I can well imagine that saying good bye wasn't easy. But I'm sure you are also enjoying your sewing room again. I'm interested to hear how your top fared in the wash? Did it no bleed all over since it bled through the batting into the backing? How did you manage it? Did you use colour catchers.
    And thanks for the info regarding the EPP book; I went and ordered one for a Christmas gift and one for myself too!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lots of bells ringing as I read this post- I have a blogpost ready to publish called "Odd and Ends", I have also mused about the way time flies, I am of German background and very frugal too, and finally I am also contemplating my next hand sewing project! I love the look of the pieces you have prepared. "The New Hexagon" is very tempting too!
    I hope the 62 year old got over his meltdown!! ;-))

    ReplyDelete
  6. I know those feelings of melancholy when the grandchildren go home. You're torn really - glad to get your life back but missing them like crazy. I have 3 spiral notebooks of patterns and other things in my sewing room. A friend commented that I was very organized but really it's a safeguard against losing something vital - like your stocking and font! blessings, marlene

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh no, I am so sorry. That happened to me once, I didn't undo or re-do. You are a better woman than I. I'm sure you will be glad you did. When will you know about QuiltCon? I am predicting they both get in. I know you had such fun with your boys, they are precious.

    ReplyDelete
  8. So busy again Linda. And what a pain with that fabric running. Hope both your quilts are accepted for Quiltcon too.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't pre-wash, do you? Your woes have really gotten me to think about it. You have been a very busy grandma. Such sweet boys.

    ReplyDelete
  10. What fun and what memories you'll have!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What happy memories with those little boys, Linda. Have you gotten caught up on your rest?! LOL
    What a bummer that, once again, you have had issues with marks where you don't want them on the background of one of your lovely quilts. I'm so sorry! I think that I shared that I stopped pre-washing a few years ago after I had bleeding with red fabric even after pre-washing. Now I always throw in color-catchers when I wash the quilt. It's not a perfect solution for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow! I can't believe how grown the boys are!! I really love your Sew Together bag - I should make one to use. What a BUMMER about the dye running. I feel your pain - I had a bit of that happen with the elephant collage. It washed out easily, though. I hope yours does/did!

    ReplyDelete

I reply to comments! If you are a no-reply commenter, or your profile appears as anonymous, I will reply to you directly on this blog post. Please check back!

LinkWithin

Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin