Monday, February 27, 2012

The "real" of it all

Packing, packing, packing! Four months on the road takes a LOT of planning. Fortunately I've been planning for a long time! I've finished my clothes shopping, finished putting all my quilt kits together (they're all cut, even!), had the car serviced, drove around for a few days with the cargo carrier attached to see how it felt ... I'm almost ready to go!

I'm as excited about the daily blogging as I am about the journey in general since I'll actually have something to tell you. I really enjoyed the posting last year; it felt like you were all with me on my trip. (Isn't technology wonderful?)

There are new states for me this year as well as some different stops along the way. I think the only "duplicates" from last year will be Amarillo (I just have to stop and see that Cadillac Ranch up close this time), and of course the city of wretched excess, Las Vegas (thank you, Mr. Wynn, for putting me up again this year).

10 more days. Tick tock.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Friday, February 24, 2012

Hate to hem jeans?

Honestly, this is the simplest way ever! I tried this yesterday and it took less than 15 minutes.

Hemming the easy way


This vid is definitely now in my "keeper" files!!

That's a good thing for the day!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

QOTW - Week 7

Sheesh - here it is the middle of week 8 already and I'm just now posting week 7. Such is the busy life of a retiree! :)


(Oops - no close-up!)  The churn-dash blocks and inner border are all plaids. This is another one of those quilts from the UFO bin. Doing a quilt a week is good incentive to get into those ufos and get them done!

I'm busy gathering stuff for The Great Packing event. There's a lot to think about, knowing I'll be gone for so long - but I'm getting there. Isn't it always the case that it takes forever for "the event" to get here, then all of a sudden OMG IT'S HERE!!!!  I drove around with the cargo carrier on the car for a week or so to see if it felt any different; it doesn't. Still, I worry about those winds in New Mexico and Arizona! Will my  car be blown off the road? I hope not. The carrier is nicely aerodynamic, but still .....

My trip starts in two weeks (and 1 day, if you wanna get technical about it). Then (Donna) I will blog every day so I'll have a good record of where I went and what I did. It worked well last year.  Expect BIG things this year; I know I am!!  Until then - my life seriously is not that interesting!

I spent President's Day here:


Lunch at Brett's (this is the view from the windows), then shopping in the little Fernandina Beach village. I bought lots of clothes. You know what? All the seaside villages look the same - I'm convinced of that. They're all unique with what they have to offer, of course, but they all look alike. :) I kind of like that!

My book group is reading "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" this month. I finished it this week. I really enjoyed it and do not know how a movie could be made from this book. The reviews (of the movie) I've read have not been kind: I can understand that. I probably will not go to see the movie, but recommend the book. It's an easy read.

I have to find a consignment shop!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Quilt of the Week - Week 6

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! I hope you're smooching what you want to be smooching today!! (I'm smooching my sewing machine.)

Yea ... again Sunday got away from me. Oh well. Here's the big reveal:


You see what I mean about the "built-in" border? It was great to not have to add more once all the rows & columns were sewn together.

And the closeup:


The fabric did all the work in the border. The pattern called for roman stripe half-blocks, but I used the Elementals batik stripe and let it work some magic. Yay!! I have serious boltage of this fabric - in many colors. It's very useful! (Yes I buy the occasional bolt - and occasionally multiple bolts.)

This pattern is from a 2006 magazine. Full disclosure: most of the inside blocks were already done and sitting around in one of my UFO bins; I didn't have to make ALL the parts this week! Great way to decrease the size of the UFO stacks, tho, yes??  One more thing - this quilt was really pretty ugly until the border blocks got made. I was really disappointed (maybe that's why it was in the UFO bin for so long), but the border blocks pulled everything together.  The moral? Keep going! Even if it's ugly at the end, you'll have learned something.

OK off to your loved one/thing you love! Enjoy the rest of this glorious day! (It's beautiful here in northeast Florida today.)

Thanks for stopping by!!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

More Free Stuff

I've added 3 more links to free pattern places. There's also a page on Facebook (Free Quilt Patterns). Like them to have them show up in your news feed whenever they post another pattern.

Let me know if there's a link you'd like to add to this blog!!

I'm working away on a pattern from a magazine. It's about 6 years old & has a "built-in" border. I like that! I won't have to add a border once I get the top sewn together.  Look for the big reveal on Sunday.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Monday, February 6, 2012

OKAY!!!

I got some feedback this weekend that I don't post often enough. Well, you're right! In fact I have not posted the quilt-of-the-week for 2 weeks!! So I promise to do better.

Here are the quilts for the last 2 weeks:

This one really "mushes" in the pic, but not so much "in person". This is one of my go-to quilts when I need something fast. I can put this top together in an afternoon. I've named it "Big Block".
Here's a close-up:

This is another "5 & 10"; also a good quilt for something needed in a hurry.



One reason for my bad case of blog-neglect was the Honeybee Retreat, held last week/weekend. We had a blast!! 83 ladies sewing, learning, eating and laughing. SO MUCH FUN!!!!! I hope you'll consider joining us next year!!

I leave for my extended road trip (4 months!!!!) in 4 weeks. Wow! I'm very excited, and pretty well planned, but still ... the reality of a 4-month road trip is daunting! I need everything in my house!! How will I ever pare down?

Here's a great resource for what size to cut setting triangles. I needed this for a quilt that's on my mind. I love the internet! I can find ANYTHING there!!! And speaking of anything ... here are a couple of "pins" (from Pinterest) that I found interesting.  Which kind of quilter are you?


Transition--Five-1.jpg
(Find the original source here)

and
IMG_0940.JPG.jpg
(original source here)

I'm BOTH kinds of quilter .... I think both these ways are totally fun!

I promise (Donna!!) to do better at posting, because I really DO appreciate that you take the time to visit here!!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!!