November 2020 OMG Complete!

I managed to complete my goal.  With the help of a four day stay at home retreat I got lots of sewing done and then some!

My two BOMs that I taught are completed tops.

I also finished the three QOV tops that remained.

Thanks to Patty at Elm Street Quilts for hosting this very motivating event!  Go take a look at everyone else’s accomplishments.

Camper Doings

I did a little sewing this week.  I have the quilt center done on my Split Decision quilt.  I’m looking for a neutral to use as the inner border.  Then the rest is TBD.  I’m planning to give this as a quilt of valor.  I have a fabric I was thinking I would use as the back but now that I plan to make it larger it would have to be enlarged as well.  You’ll be seeing more as I go

I was sewing at the church.  .I had to return to stash to continue so decided to move on to my other project.  I planned to add borders to my camper quilt.  I measured it on the camper bed so knew I was at the right size.  When I looked in the bag the only thing I had was the extra fabric intended for backing.  I was disappointed so visited with my friend.  She is a retired nurse and has been helping me with documentation I need so it was time well spent.

I blame my missing project on the stash shuffle.  I’m still working on that by the way.  I’ve had several items missing and managed over the past week to find quite a few, including the camper quilt.  I’m still missing a backing fabric and a pin keeper.  I’m trying hard not to stuff it away in my stash repository but I’m getting dangerously close to doing just that!

So about that camper the quilt is intended for.  On Tuesday the 10th I got a call from the local police department.  They had found our trailer abandoned on a street in our town.  It was hooked up to a stolen truck.  We keep it at a storage facility in Dallas and had no idea it had been taken.  I had to file a police report in Dallas in order for Mesquite to release it.  It was released and we got it after calling our insurance company.  We moved it to a repair facility after we assessed the damage ourselves.  So we are in the throes of estimates and negotiating with the insurance company.  I’m amazed it was not damaged worse than it was.  We will repair it and beef up the security the best we can.

Sewing is in my forecast this week.  I hope you have a great Thanksgiving.  It will just be my kids, dd’s boyfriend and Ray.  We are trying to keep it simple but the menu always seems to grow before the big day!

Big Accomplishments

I had Veterans Day off From work and decided to take advantage and added a vacation day to Thursday and Friday.  I went to the church and sewed with my friends.  There were just three of us.  Actually, we did have a fourth join us on Thursday.  We started as early as 9 and went until 9 two evenings.  We came and went as needed to take care of appointments.  We went out to get a few meals and brought others in.  All in all we had a very good time.

I got a lot done!  On the first day I finished the last two QOVs which gives me 6 completed tops.

With the completion of my OMG November goal under my belt I launched into new things.  Folks on my Stashbuster io group had been talking about this pattern.  Serendipitously a friend asked me if I wanted a layer cake she had.  BINGO!  Of course I did because I don’t buy them.  Here is the result. 

I love it!  Another added to the to be quilted pile.  It’s flannel and will be super snuggly and warm.  I started cutting it Wednesday and finished sewing it Thursday.

Friday I pulled out a panel I had kitted up myself.  In fact I made two kits and gifted one to a dear friend.  I had already cut all the strips a week or so ago.  The pattern is Fernanda by Villa Rose.  I set to sewing and here is the result.

Do you see my little helper down there holding the corner?  I use the term help loosely.  He was our sewing companion the majority of the time.  He gave us reason to get up and move.  Walking and playing helped us move!

I started cutting on my next kit.  I made up a single block before calling it a night.  I managed to get away for 6 hours Saturday.  I didn’t sew the entire time but made 28 of the 36 blocks needed.  It’s called Split Decision.  I’ll finish it later.  Here’s my progress.

I’m thinking this may be a good QOV.  It will be close to the size I want to achieve and I have extra fabric.

Are you getting a lot done?  What are you working on?

Big Accomplishments

I failed to mention I finally got my sewing machine back!  16 weeks and 2 days.  When I dropped it off they quoted 5 weeks before they’d even be able to look at it.  I was ok with that.  There was a good bit of what I call game playing through the whole process.  Telling me my machine was getting old and parts were hard to find, delays in working on it, trying to sell me a new machine, marking up replacement parts and terrible communication.  When I picked it up it supposedly had been serviced.  The oil wick was completely and the bobbin case was full of lint.  I wrote them a review and was contacted immediately.  I didn’t budge and they responded to my review that they don’t do business as I described.  Believe me when I tell you I encountered many others that were in the same boat with their machines and repairs.  Why am I the only nad review out there??  The Stitch House in Plano.  Beware.

So the good news about my machine is that it works. After my friend cleaned and oiled it I went right to work.  Since my last post I’ve managed to get my two BOMs together to the top stage and got the fourth of six QOV tops done.  Two more to go and they only lack the last border.  On a roll!

I’m taking two two days off in addition to Veterans day this coming week.  I’ll be sewing with my friend at the church.  I plan to finish off the two QOV tops,  sew together the panel that I just cut the coordinating fabric for and was just given a flannel layer cake that I’ll be trying a pattern out with.  These should be quick projects so I’ll be digging in the stash for other projects.  I have a few already cut so thos will be likely candidates!

What are you working on?

November OMG 2020

I’m feeling frisky this month.  Let’s see what I can do.  

Bring the last three QOVs to a completed top, complete the two BOMs, that I taught over the past year, to the top stage.  For the QOVs it’s all border work.  For the BOMs it’s assembling blocks into columns and assembling the columns x 2.  

 

Linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal.  Are you participating?

October OMG Complete!

My goal was to fix one of the six tops I had made for my cousins.  When I finished my OMG for last month I felt quite smug.  I completed all the centers!  Then I measured the first one to start adding borders.  My goal size for the completed top was 60x80 and I knew I’d have to add a 6” border (total) to do that.

I excitedly measured and my width was 48” as I expected but the length looked quite long.  I put measuring tape to fabric.  What??  It was already 80”.  How the heck did that happen?  Bad math somewhere obviously.

As my friends and I talked and laughed about it I realized I sometimes have funny math.  It’s not that I can’t do simple math, it’s that I get incorrect facts in my head and run with them.  I write down the wrong info without checking previous steps.  In this case I somehow only counted 5 rows when there are clearly six.  In the end it was an easy enough fix.  Ripped that last star row off, the red, white border, and reattached that border to the fifth star row.  I was back in business.

I knew we were planning to travel so I went easy on myself and pledged to bring 1 top to correct, complete flimsy.  I did it!  I even pushed that goal and completed two more.  I’ve started cutting the borders for the last three.  All six had already been ripped back when I started working on them today.

My friend and I ran out and bought backings for four of the quilts.  There wasn’t enough yardage on the bolt for all six so another shopping trip will happen soon.

What are you working on?

Camp Crafting

This past summer when we went to Tennessee and Michigan I had taken my featherweight with me.  I had a few small projects and my cutting implements.  I never got around to touching any of it except to move it out of the way from time to time.

When I was preparing for the ?Oklahoma trip I thought about what I could take that I would have a higher likelihood to get to.  I had a few balls of cotton crochet yarn and grabbed a crochet hook.  I had been wanting to make more dishcloths and knew I could find a pattern online easily.  I had previously knitted a basket weave cloth and gifted it away.  I really liked that pattern so googled to see if there was a crochet version.

The pattern I used is here.  I didn’t worry about gauge and crocheted until I ran out of the skein.  I love it!

I had another skein of this yarn and am working on this pattern.  Again I am not worrying about gauge and will end up with a rectangle!  It will get the job done.

One other thing I brought was a quilt I had started for the camper.  I stopped at the point of adding borders because I wanted to check it with the camper mattress.  I wasn’t sure if it’s a standard size.  It’s a full.  I’m ready to add borders!

What, if any, projects do you take traveling with you?  The crochet worked for me because I could sit with Ray where ever as long as there was light.  He didn’t think I could crochet and talk at the same time but I managed fine once I got the pattern started!

Beavers Bend State Park - Broken Bow Lake

We arrived in Hochatown, OK Thursday the 8th and departed on the 13th.  It was a nice long weekend snuggled between doctor appointments and included a bank holiday.  I love to stretch my vacation days by adding them to holidays.  I drove the camper/truck(rig) the whole way up and back.  Three hour round trip.  This trip was very easy for driving as I had plenty of practice in July.  I just needed to remember to swing wide on the turns.

Other than heating water on the stove all our cooking was done on a George Foreman grill outside.  We even made toast, sausage and eggs on it.  It was wonderful for cleanup.  Ray did all the cooking on it.  He and the sous-chefs that is.

We drove through the park sight seeing and gathering info on the park and town activities. A friend of mine let me know that Sasquatch had been seen in the area.  There were a few stores that had the name Swamp Booger in them which I assumed was the towns term of endearment for him.  Fall had definitely begun to arrive in the area.

This park is snuggled in the Ouachita National Forest.  Gorgeous!  I look forward to going back.  If you look at the third picture you will see people canoeing.  Just to the left of them, outside the frame, is where the landing is.  You rent the canoe there and they drive you to a drop sight in a short school bus.  They rent canoes, kayaks and paddle boats.  We saw all three.  

Sunday we arrived at the rental place at opening time.  There was quite a line but they handled everyone efficiently and we were in the water within about 45 minutes of our arrival.  It was to be the hottest day of our trip but there was a breeze and lots of shade.  Ray let them know he planned to fish so we would take longer than the average 2.5 hours.  We were only out there a little over 3 hours.  He had a few nibbles, lots of snags and show off fish jumping all around the boat.

I did not take my phone (camera) with me for fear of taking it swimming.  We rented a canoe and had no issues.  There was a small rapid at the beginning that caught me by surprise.  The rest of the river, Mountain Fork River, was smooth.  We paddled to the edges so he could fish in some of the deeper water. We saw turtles, fish and an egret.  There were some places where there was a sheer rock wall with trees growing out of it.  There was another spot that had a little cut in area that we explored.  The skies were beautiful and clear.  So peaceful.  The pictures are in my memory.

So what is a vacation for me without some excitement?  While we were canoeing we put the dogs in the camper.  We were away from camp for about 3:5 - 4 hours.  We went straight back to camp to let the dogs out.  We pulled into the drive at our site and I opened my door.  I felt something brush against the back of my legs.  I was startled and looked down to see my little dog Moose,Moo Moo, looking up at me.  Ray and I looked at each other confused as to how he got out of  a locked camper.  Ray went inside and found where he had managed to push the screen window to the side and jump over 5 feet to the ground!  I was so relieved that he was not taken, lost or injured.  Everyone reminded me he just wanted to be with me!  Crazy dog!

But wait, there’s more!  We went to bed Friday night.  We would sit outside and talk, look at the stars and enjoy the fresh air, peace and calm.  Overnight I heard a very loud pop.  I thought it was a gunshot.  Not too long after I heard voices shouting, someone banging on doors and the the word fire.  I tried to look out the window to see what was going on.  I could not see anything so stepped outside to see the camper directly across the drive on fire.  I woke Ray up and he leaned out to look, came back in and dressed quickly.  

While he was doing that I called 911.  They told me they already knew and FD was on the way.  I called the campground owner, no answer, then texted hi to let him know there was a fire.  Ray ran out and when he knew everyone was safely out of their camper moved the truck.  Our generator gas tanks were in the back and a bomb waiting to explode with the extreme heat.  911 called me back to see if EMS was needed.  We told them no.

The volunteer FD arrived first.  He started to spray the fire and perimeter and quickly ran out of water.  It seemed like an eternity for the regular FD to get there.  Once they arrived the fire was put out quickly.  We heard the tires on the camper exploding and I watched for projectiles shooting off but never saw any.  The camper on either side suffered damage from the heat.  Only one of them was occupied at the time.  The next day the rubble smoldered most of the day.  We went exploring to get away from the mess.  When we returned it had stopped smoking.

We do not know the cause of the fire.  The man staying there had gone away overnight.  Ray thinks t was the igniter that may have failed.  It took me over three hours to fall asleep!  Too much excitement for me!  At least I was not the source!

6 x 12

The title... 6x12 failed me.  Last week I was preparing to go out of town so I didn’t have time to work physically on my quilt.  I did work on it mentally.  I actually tried to find my sketch to see where I went wrong but when it wasn’t in an obvious place I just started a new sketch to determine the fix.  Luckily I developed a new plan quickly!

Of course once I figured it out I still really wanted to see my original plan to figure out where I went wrong.  I finished getting ready for my trip and resumed my search.  I found it!  It took less than a minute to see where I went wrong!  6 x 12 is NOT 60!  I think I made my usual mistake which is to think through things in my head with incorrect facts in my head.  I think I thought I had 5 12” stars when it was 6.

So easy fix right?  Rip off one star row which puts me at the 60” I originally worked with.  Of course knowing this now my redesign would have been different!  And I will end up with fodder for another quilt or two.  Ah well.  I’ll get back to it this weekend.

Let me tell you about my trip.  We went to Beavers Bend State Park in Oklahoma.  Weeks ago we started looking at the weather in combination with scheduled doctors appointments and a bank holiday.  Everything looked like it lined up well.  Maybe one rain day so we planned it!  We went from Thursday the 8th through Tuesday the 13th.

I had relaxing and being on my mind for this trip.  Ray had fishing on his mind.  We did both!  We spent a lot of time driving around town and through the park looking at the sites and planning activities for the weekend.  What better place to start than at the park information center?  We picked up a few maps and asked questions.  

While there I noticed a museum and decided to walk through.  It’s main focus was trees and their history.  There were dioramas behind glass with a recording talking about what was shown.  The main thing that I took away was that trees in the beginning formation of the world would grow and then fall over because there was not anything for the roots to anchor into.  This occurred repeatedly and is how dirt and the earths layers were formed.  Ferns were the only “trees” that survived the ice age.  Wow.  I love science!

There were photography exhibits, wood working, an old cabin, chainsaw exhibit, forest ranger statue and tower.  Some of the dioramas talked about the beginning of logging and the almost immediate recognition of the need for conservation.  The impact of people on the forest and nature on the people was portrayed throughout.  The number of products we use everyday that come from trees is many.  We would be hard pressed if we lost this resource.

I’ll leave you with some pictures and a promise to talk more about my trip in another post.

Have you managed any getaways this year?  It’s a little tricky but possible!

Swooze

October 2020 OMG

OMG...in the true sense of the word.  Not goal but what have I done?  Remember the 6 QOVs I’m  making for my cousins?  Well I had a fleeting thought “I should make ONE beginning to end to make sure I had everything right.  I redesigned the pattern with the goal of attaining a 60x80 Quilt.  EPICfail!

I sewed over 6 hours adding the extra length I thought I needed for the 5 I had not done that for. I pressed one of the tops really well so that I could accurately measure and calculate how many inner border strips I need so that I could get some cut for my next sewing session.

All 6 look like this.  All the same size.  48.5 x 82.5”.  Wait!!  WHAT?!?!?!!  I was shooting for 80 length.  What the heck did I do?  Back to the drawing board!  But I can’t  find the drawing board. With the great stash migration things are a tad buried.  It will reveal itself in good time.

My goal for this month is to get ONE top completely made to the end.  This will involve deconstructing and drawing and deciding.  I’ll get it!  Linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts for OMG.

Are you playing?