Crafty Chicas at the Quilt Show

several hours and several dollars later, the chicas left the Long Beach intl. quilt festival.

a lot more quilts there this year, a lot fewer vendors. We did miss a few vendors from last year....they had the best stuff. Not nearly as much fabric to purchase, that was disappointing.

The chicas and friends at the show

my favorite quilt

I don't even drink coffee! lol

Today we sew! patriotic table runners and what ever else we have time for!

hey! it worked...I finally blogged pictures from my iPad......woo and hoo

Let the festivities begin!

The Second Annual Crafty Chicas Weekend begins at Oh Dark Thirty tomorrow with an 8 hour road trip with my fellow road warrior Denise.   I-5....look out!!!

Packing and prepping the snacks for an easy departure tomorrow.
EEEEEEEEEEE, I am sooooo ready after all the busyness here of late.
Time to par-tay in the LB and the OC!!

Burlap Chic Reception

My son got married last week. I know, I can hardly believe my kids are growing up, getting married and having kids of their own. Well, one has done all three. LOL

We had the reception here and here's a bit of the decor. I did most of it myself. I did not make the plates or the tin flowers. LOL Loved the rustic feel, but soooo didn't want to go all cowboy, ya know.

The patio...tin flowers, twinkle lights

The bride and groom's table

I made the cake(s) and table runner

Two of the tables...

I made burlap table runners, canning jar candles and vases

and folded the napkins all pretty like. My brother was a big help with set up.

The hubs, outstanding, as usual.

A little closer look 

Oh yeah, bubble favors

I used rock salt to hold the candle and keep wax from mucking up the glass....worked pretty dang good and the jars cleaned up nicely. I know, I was surprised myself!

Some red ticking on the picnic table.

Couple of things I learned:

• burlap is hard to cut and sew straight
• rock salt may sparkle, but it melts, use a lot. 
• people didn't really eat the cherries
• use paper plates next time I throw a party....I had to do a lot of hand washing.....let me tell you...my mom and I will have dishpan hands for days...DAYS 
• I have the best family...ever. Set up and clean up without me even asking.
• I have no room to store all the things I made and or bought. lol
• a friend of mine will benefit from my over use of burlap. ;-)
• I don't throw a bad party....who knew? ;-)
• the hubs was right, one brisket was enough (ssshhhh don't tell him I said that)
• there is never enough time to prep. hahahahaha

Great turn out and I think a good time was had by all. AAANNDDDDD, everyone RSVP'd.....I have never had that happen before....awesome!!

Star Trek TNG....tonight....in theatres

One night only!!! Can't wait!!

http://www.startrek.com/article/tng-25th-anniversary-movie-event-tonight

From clunky and chunky to sleek and polished.... Mitred Corner Tutorial, Part 2

First off, I still spell a couple of words the ''old'' way. Theatre and mitre(bite me spell check)...when did the spelling change to :e r"? Americans, what are you gonna do with us, eh? LOL

It's been a very busy time for me....son got hitched and tons of family visiting. I am kind of taking a breather today and paying bills, blogging, facebooking, cleaning........because this weekend is the reception, I will be making some rustic, shabby/chic items for the decor and even more family will be here for the weekend for that!. I am tired just thinking about it. LOL

As promised, oooohhhhh so long ago, part two. The technique works pretty good with us non professional seamsters too. 

I followed the directions from this issue of Threads Magazine.

This is how this works in the ''real world''; distractions, fussy fabric, temperamental sewing machines.....not perfect conditions and professional sewistas. LOL

Start by deciding how deep you want your hems, then press the heck of of the them. 

You will use the pressing lines as guides.

In the article, the make some paper templates to keep your hems really even. 

I am making receiving blankets, I winged it. ;-)

See the bulking corners?

I used to just sew that down...ha!

I am using this scrap piece of quilter's cotton for ease and to show you the hems do not have to be even or even the same size to work.  I know, right!

Mark where the fabric intersects

Open it up but leave one fold, folded. See that nice sharp corner, that is your goal point. 

On the flannel, I used some fading marker to highlight the lines and the intersection since the line wasn't as crisp.  use your favorite method..pins, ink, thread tacks.....

Fold right sides together and hatch up the pins. If you hems are not even, your corner will look wonky....it's okay

Mark from the pins to where the fold lines meet

Sew down said line

Give it a quick turn to see if it worked, adjust if necessary. 

I had to on one or two flannel corners but taking it in a little bit since the fabric was bulky and I couldn't get a nice, clean line.

Trim and press open.

Confession time, I didn't press open. 

Ta-daaaaaa

all pressed and perfect!

Ready for assembly line sewing 

 After your corners are all trimmed and pressed, let the top stitching begin........

Front and back view

Out of 17 corners, I only had one that was cacadoodledoo

Since these receiving blankets are for my grammy stash, I went with it. 

I can't be perfection all the time, right. hahahahaha

The finished products.

Yes, skulls for my baby girl!!

I hope this technique helps you like it helped me!

happy sewing.....

oops and what the French toast?

dear blog friends,
It seems that I have hit the proverbial brick wall with my photo storage....the "free" limit, anyway. When was blogger gonna tell me I had a limit? When was blogger gonna tell me my unlimited was limited to pics of 800px or less to qualify for unlimited storage on Picasa?


Right now I am looking into trying to adjust my Picasa, but that has turned into a big ol' boon doggle of uploading the newest Picasa and then having it not let me upload anything else and then I removed a few pics(sorry if some of my posts get all nekkid because I deleted a few)


any long time bloggers out there.......help! I don't want to move and I do want to keep posting.


thanks

**update**
for now I have migrated my pictures to a new account, but that is short term. Now to figure out the 800px thing without having to download picasa 3.whatever so I don't have to fiddle with this again. lol
Or I could just cough up the 2.49 a month........ponder, ponder

Skull is Finished!

I have no idea what to do with it now. LOL

Orange; 6 strands

Dark pink; 6 strands 

eye; 3 strands

flower; 2 strands light pink and 1 strand medium pink

The back is a hot mess and a half. I knew this was just practice so I did not take special care to make it pretty...hahahahaha

Click here to see the first half of the skull's progress.

I Know How to French

French Knot, that is!

I made 53 french knots..I counted!

I was having a bout of insomnia, hormones, gotta love 'em, so instead of tossing and turning and fussin, I got up, went into the livingroom and turned on the tv. I know, I know, what kind of person doesn't have a tv in her bedroom? LOL


Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull was on. Since it was on for the umpteenth time and I had seen it more than once, I thought I should practice my embroidery skills since there is an embroidered quilt that is on my 2012 to do list. I have the Sublime Stitching book and it has a skull or two in it......it went with the movie, what can I say?

French knots: 3 strands, wrapped twice

Back-stitch: 6 strands

Running stitch: 3 strands

This is what it looked like by 1:40 in the blessed A. M.

I worked on the yellow and the bright green last night while I watched tv. 
It's nice to have a little something to do while you stare at the ol' boob tube.

Yellow: 6 strands

Light green stem stitch: 3 strands

 

There is no rhyme or reason to the color selection. It's just what I have on hand. I did try to make it not look totally spastic though. LOL 

Now, what color should I pick next?

It is safe to say that I don't totally suck at french knots anymore!! woo and hoo!

Coming soon.....new sewing tutorial

 From clunky and chunky to sleek and polished....

Mitered Corners - Part Two.

Threads magazine has been a wealth of information over the years. A new (to me) little technique here and there have made my sewing better and easier. I would love to say faster, but I am soooo not fast and probably never will be. LOL 


I adapted the mitred corner technique at Christmas time for a single fold of fleece. Now I am using this wonderful technique on some flannel baby blankets. But it will work on any corner, on any fabric, at any angle.....I will say that the more stable the fabric, the better the result.


I am making several flannel receiving blankets so I should have a pretty good handle on this wonderful technique before the weekend is over. I will take lots of pictures and post how it's done.


This technique is from a threads magazine....several years ago...totally brill!
(June/July 2008  #137, page 65) It has a very colorful tote bag on the cover.


Practice, here I come...............

The tutorial is now up, click this sentence!!

It's time for a sewing adventure.........................

It wasn't planned. I was in Joann's to get some burlap for some wedding table runners, (see my pineterst board here) when I noticed a small, little, quiet sound, "buy me, buy me, buy meeeeeee."
I was looking for some canvas.....canvas would so not be calling my name. I turned the corner, the voice got louder...so I looked and looked. I was in the Fashion Knits aisle. I have yet to sew with this kind of fabric so it couldn't possibly be this row, I am a woven kinda girl. 

Oh noooooooo, it is this row! 

Oh nooooooooooo, it looks awful from the back!

Oh noooooooooooo, it's what?????

Pre ruffled cheetah print knit. O M G and a half. I have no words, 

but it came home with me...a whole yard. LOL 

This will, indeed, be an adventure.

The rest of my purchases were a lot more socially normal.

 The aforementioned burlap......whatever was on the bolt.

This pattern (99¢) becasue my grand daughter loves the view of the blue sleeping bag looking one.

I should say she is most happy sleeping in that style of garment and winter is closer than we think.

This April Johnson knit (60% off) and this 99¢ pattern. 

Can you say maxi dress? Sure, I knew you could.

Some black jersey to go with the ruffled cheetah print fabric.

I must be nuts. I will be making the longer version with the black top.

I can't decide if I want it tank style or with the cap sleeves. 

I have barely sewn with knits, let alone preruffled knits. LOL

Any tips about fit and construction would be more than welcomed!!

After I get the reception sewing done and some quilt blocks for a swap and the baby blankets I have laying all over the place, I will be in full clothes sewing mode. 

I have a muslin ready for adjustments and now two patterns ready to try!

Uh-oh....the cat found the burlap....Bobo....get off of that!!! Shoooooooo

HAPPY FOURTH!

Me and baby, in younger more sparkly days, wishing you a happy fourth!!

She's all decked out right now too!

 Today 7-4-12