Jun 30, 2016

Corner squares

Tammy Black's blog Scattered Seed Samplers featured a post of her wonderful strawberry collection and other items for readers to drool over.  This is one of the photos from that post, her corner squares for measuring your start.  She was kind enough to answer my request for the source and being of unsound mind, I forgot all about calling the shop where she bought them. 
They are from IntheCompanyofFriends but there is nothing for sale on that website.  I need to contact the shop that sold them.  I don't measure and if I did, have a quilting grid that I can use.  But I like them and you know what?  I am sick and tired of paying for everything for everyone else and depriving myself in order to do so.  Yes I can make them, but why should I.  Or maybe I will tell someone in my family to buy them for my birthday gift that I haven't received for years.
 
What reminded me of them was the floss tags I used to make.  I found a few left over blanks and the size triggered the old memory so I started playing.  I came up with a pretty good plan for the back of the square and worked out labels.  If I can't find Tammy's squares, then I am ready to make my own.  This is my favorite so far.  You know what?  I may end up liking mine more, so here we go again.  If you give me a little time, I will change my mind.  This menomind drives me nuts.  That's it!  I'm making them with my favorite house snippets.
Did anyone read the comment from Amanda answering my query about the F word?  In case you missed it, here it is...
"Bit of history of the f-bomb. Earliest written use in English goes back to the 1500s and some uncomplimentary comments on the relationships between the Friars of Ely and the town's housewives. It seems to have made it to the US by the time of the Revolution, and its modern usage was well established by the turn of the 20th Century, at least among the working classes. It moved into the more general society after WWII via returning GIs. So whether your movie had an accurate usage depends on both time and what social class the character was."
 
So thanks to her knowledge, I finally have my answer.  Her blog Saint Ann's Reel is very entertaining and I like her writings.  She stitches, knits, and ...... weaves!  Those complicated looking beautiful coverlet patterns in smaller pieces on her loom!  If you have some time, go through her old and new posts.  Thank you Amanda!
 
Still finding floss balls in that messy room and Bud followed her in there yesterday.  He is so big and slow I can deflect him, but she is a spitfire and too quick for me.  I turn around and she is no where in sight.
 
Hope to show my finish and offer the chart this weekend.
Have a good one.
Joanie said to eat that damn chocolate cake.
 
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Jun 29, 2016

Ooooooh baby

It took three hours, but I think it was worth it. 
I may have to keep this one.
 

 
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Judy!!!

I'm so glad I waited to post the third number drawn!  I hesitated last night, wrote and saved the post this morning, decided to publish the new winner at noon, then went in the basement to open another bag of Dove dark, and voila!  There it was.  An email from the winner, Judy. 

So the blue fox will be on its way to a new home. 

I decided to bring the entire of bag of chocolate upstairs with me because I am working on labels.  Two flights to get a piece is asking a bit much of these damaged knees.  Also bummed about losing June so a few extra pieces today are warranted.

Linda, there was very little offensive language in the movie, just heard it a few times but still wondered about its use back then.  Most of the movie is grunting and groaning from injuries sustained by a mama grizzly attack that would have killed anyone else, let alone having the 1000 pound bear fall onto you with nary a broken bone.  But of course, Leo is a superior human being to us all, as are most of the Hollywood Hypocrites.

Have a few extra sweets today.
 
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Jun 28, 2016

Not again

Geez.  I thought I could email the blue fox winner but nope.  No-reply.  She's not visited to see who won and I sure hope everything is OK.  I gave the first winner three days to claim, and this is longer so if I don't hear from her this evening, I will enter all the names once again and Random will choose another winner at 9pm tonight.
 
Haven't been getting much done because my sister's air conditioner has been failing, taking her to the dentist, and now repairing an old, solid picnic table that she didn't take care of. 
New boards, the metal needs blasted, bolts rusted off, what a job.  Mark said tell her to buy a new one.  I couldn't believe it!  This is what her heavy gauge steel with wood looks like (used to) and at Lowe's, it's $900!!!  Well the air conditioner is fixed and the teeth are being worked on so two out of three are taken care of.  But it certainly won't stop there.  One of these days I will probably do a rant about all this because sometimes it really gets to me. 
We rented The Revenant over the weekend and I have a question for you.  When did the F word become commonplace?  Back in 1823?  It must have been in writings found from those time periods.  Every time I see a depiction of early times and it is used over and over, I always wonder.  What a silly thing to think of.
 
Have a good evening.  I may be back after 9!

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Jun 27, 2016

MISSY!!!

Before I forget - answers to no-reply.
Maureen, I enlarged the print of the free chart by 150% on the copier.
Debbie, the sampler chart is Lydia Durgin from Elizabeth's Garden.

I didn't think it was unusual for me to lose floss colors.  I have my favorites, use them often, yet they were disappearing.  ?  Tore the little parlor apart looking and ended up with more floss bags scattered than in the floss box.  Blamed it on my complete lack of organization and habit of misplacing items. 
 
Whenever I let Missy into the house she runs up the stairs.  But for several weeks she has been running into the parlor where I caught her a while ago, sleeping atop my linen and floss bags on the sofa.  But now when I try to get her back out, she is coming from behind it. 
So I took a peek thinking she may have dropped a mouse back there.  No.  It's my floss.  The bags must slide across the floor for fun but even more fun is taking a new skein and destroying it.  I don't always seal the bags properly and somehow she got her dirty little paw inside to pull out the thread.  There's quite a bit more beneath the sofa.  This tells you how often I dust my floors in what Mark calls "the stitching mess".  Little brat.
 

 I told you years ago that I was going to spray dye this sofa and of course, I haven't yet.  But I did use a light mist of Dawn to remove sizing and then spritzed it with plain water to check absorption.  My other furniture has duct tape on the Waverly fabric which did not hold up at all.  Some pieces are strong synthetic weaves but they also have broken threads.  If you have springs and solid furniture, is it worth it to reupholster or just buy new?  These sofas are very long at 84" and I'm leaning toward buying new and smaller. 
 
Would you trust a weathered brittle grapevine wreath to hold a large hanging basket?  I think it will be fine, can't break through all of it but I'll keep watching.


Can you hear me whining about June ending?  I am.  Loud and clear.

Have a good week.

Thanks for visiting.

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Jun 26, 2016

Still blue

Greetings pals.  Was the weekend good?  Hope so.  But it's over now and the last week of June is upon us.  Damn.  Damn damn.  Slow down!
 
I haven't been browsing Pinterest as often as before but while sitting on the swing enjoying a breeze, I did.  Came across this free design from The Nebby Needle back in 2014.  Another small I think I would like to stitch, but where do I put it? 
 

When I was playing with dye and trying to get a dark gray blue, this piece took the color so far and then quit.  It's not as dark as the Fox fabric and is a long thin cut.  I thought of it as soon as I saw this chart.  That doesn't mean it's a good choice and I won't know until the floss is worked in.   Will I ever get that far?  There are decisions!  America in white, border in red, God Bless in gold?  Three color choices with many options for placement.  Maybe it would look best on light tan.
 
Speaking of the blue Fox (notice how sometimes it's capitalized and others not - just messing with you), I have not heard from the winner.  Probably busy with weekend fun so we'll give her a few more days.
 
My decision to follow the chart and not the photo on this sampler was a good one.  I don't mind all black pieces but that 3011 neutral really spares the monotony.  Doesn't this look good with it in the dividing bands instead of all black?
  This chart will be passed on to someone interested as soon as I am finished.
 
That's it folks.  Getting dark out here with hungry mosquitoes.
 
Thanks for visiting.
 
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