Bias lesson

When I woke up this morning I stepped out onto the porch to check my apple/crabapple tree in bloom. Last year I waited too long for the perfect picture and it turned green on me over night. So, I am attempting to be sneaky and capture the blooms.

I found a piece of green that I could use and started making the cuts for my strips.

It turned out that my little bias tape maker which says 1/2 " just is not wide enough for the project. From using that red I decided that I enjoyed working with that size better. Boy, "Karma" must have over heard me say something about enjoying a project -so everything I did was a disaster. The two projects that should have been my most enjoyable turned into two disasters. Well, maybe "Lessons" is just that -lessons -not a warrenty of perfection.

I cut my strips two inches --then ironed them down the middle to give me a crease line. Next I folded each side into the center and that was how I made my very own bias.

This size green bias is working good on this monster size mug rug. Maybe I should call it a "Plate - rug"! LOL

I can't help myself , I really like it now that it is finished.Yes, it is a big size -maybe that is for a big appetite?

Then this one should have been my best one-but it did not end up that way. I made so many mistakes. It was like I was Hexed. LOL  It was more of my "drunk-sewing" as I tried my best to hold a steady hand and the next thing I knew I was on the wrong side  . Yes, my eyes are partly to blame . I need new glasses bad- but you know how it is ? :)  Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! LOL
Love to all

Tieing Up Loose Ends

What a perfectly lovely morning this was as DH was out turkey hunting for a brief period of time and I went to the sewing room to try and get some Peaceful work done. You know - the kind that you are not wore out tired and the house is quiet enough to think and let those ideas wander around in your brain for a while before you decide which one to act on.LOL

I decided that since I liked doing the mug rugs where I had sewn them together and then turned them inside out -I like that better than the bias -although I did like the bias because it added another color element ! Still, since I like the other way I was afraid I would not go back and finish the ones I had started -but had not put the bias on and I did not want that to happen-so I rolled out the bias piece I had made and decided to iron a fold in it to see If that would make it fit better and give me less of a problem when it comes to those corners!You quilters must be geniuses  because those corners are the pits!

This mug rug is one that I think will look good with this bias on it.  I was trying to decide which would be the Best way to start and finish??????

Well, I concentrated SOOOO very hard trying to make this project behave itself. I do like the colors very much. :)

Next I had a piece of red store bought 1/2 inch bias and I had a project with red - so I decided to try my luck.

Yes, I certainly did learn something here - the wider bias is SOOOOO much easier to work with. Lesson learned!

I also went outdoors and did my chores today and the weather is Beautiful so I took the rake and spent an hour and half raking and cleaning up. It seemed like the more I cleaned - the more that needed doing -but I was too hot already so I gave up and went in the house to take a shower. When I looked in the mirror my face was blood red -so I think I made a wish decision to come in. There will always be crud waiting for me somewhere. ! LOL

Mug Rugging Again?

I just cannot belive that a new week is upon us again - Already! But as you can see my supervisor is on duty today so will have to pull off some work. She even came for lunch as you can see the groceries she is keeping guard on. LOL

Utt-O! She is taking a closer look! I cannot decide if that is a good or a bad thing????I was cutting out pieces for this mug rug and just letting it take me in which direction it wanted to go. This is down right fun -to work on a project that just sets you free. :)

Rosie did have a funny ending to the groceries . The bag she  is guarding is suppose to be for the other 2 kitties and she has been on a different food because she was up-chucking all she ate. When I came  back in this after noon - she had torn into this bag of food. Made a big ole hole - you should have seen it. I am hoping we don't have "piles " of consequences to pay!

I took a walk around the pond today and all this rain we have had has really filled the pond up right to the tip of the top. Now, if only the flowers can come and bring it to life! That pipe on the right hand side is where my DH rigged a pipe to catch all the water that runs off of the roof of our house to help keep the pond full and not endanger our well when the dry spells come.

Well shoot - this dumb camera! But the design is kitties and doggies all over it and I used a different seam this time - which I can tell you will not be able to see unless you have "Biontic - Eyeballs"  LOL. I will try to do better next time. I think my camera is down to 3 legs now and just barely holding on. LOL

Gosh the day is ending perfectly. We had a hot day - did you hear that in New Zealand - we had a Hot day! Yea -not snow and not tornado - just hot. LOL But now it is cooling down and I have my window open and the little frogs at the pond are singing their little hearts out! Music to my soul!

Love to all and hope you have enjoyed your "perfect " day too!

Tornado Warning

I did not post last  night because we had our first tornado warning, in my lifetime.It was getting really dark and really foggy so we had finished our outside chores and went into and turned on the weather. They were warning everybody to go to your basement IF you had one and stay away from doors and windows. In my experience - that was similar to people telling you not to look down when you are climbing. LOL We stayed glued to the door and porch - just keeping an eye out and listening. We were having buckets of rain and heavy winds and also keeping an eye on the storm on the tv.. The odd part since we have never had this experience before was that you just kept watching the movement of the storm and did not know until later when family kept calling to check on everybody was that really bad damage had been done to two small towns just a few miles from us.We had managed to scare everyone because we had unplugged everything -not realizing that then the phone would not work. : (  We finally realized it and plugged the phone back up so we could answer all the frantic calls from family.

It seemed the storm had passed so I headed to bed - too much excitement in one day. It was a little hard to go to sleep because of the electric display in my window.But, I was up again at 12 because another round of it was upon us again. It thundered and lightened for the next 2 hours. The thunder was so loud that it rumbled the entire house and the lightening was so bright that every time it blasted my eyeballs - it would leave me blind for a couple of minutes and then it would come again.

Then we found out this morning that the little town 12 miles from us had been hit hard and part of it was on fire . One house blowed off of its foundation and roofs gone. Several families were given shelter at the local school.

The second little town -the gas station had been shredded and a lady who was there in her car at the time said it picked her car up and scared her to death. She was crying and you could see how scared she was.

We were SOOOOOOOOO blessed. We had torrents of rain and winds. The ground looks like it has been swept clean -all of the top soil is gone in places where we walk and things just look "different". After hearing about all of the damage nearby  it just leaves you with a strange feeling - knowing what others have gone through and yet we are still intact

DH got up and went turkey hunting this morning - just like nothing had happened. Of course his brother and grandson did not show up because they were right in the middle of the action -but not hurt. They had said last night that an apartment was on fire and they said that a baby was in it and they could not get to it. I am soooo hoping that was not true or that it did get rescued.

I went out and did morning chores because the weather says to be prepared because the same thing might happen again tonight !  As I was doing chores , I could not help but notice that it was a very quiet morning - almost eerie , because normally everything is really bursting with excitement as the day gets off to a new start and birds are nornally singing at the top of their lungs celebrating a brand new day .

I have several parakeets and several people asked me why I did not want to teach them to talk? I told them that they do talk -all day long and that I prefer their language because I can turn on the radio or tv all day long and hear human voices - I have birds because I want to hear "bird music". LOL

A New Experiment For Me?

OK, remember last night I had got this far with my new mug rug? Well, I have been pondering about a different way to do the edges? You do know how that cat and the curiosity went???

As I was wondering I kept working on the boarders and the rest of the "sandwich"!

And this is the Yellow butterfly sandwich and yes, I am still wondering???? SO, the best thing I know when I am faced with a dilemma  is to just go ahead and try the different ways and see what you think about it? I have not seen any "Mug Rug Rules" that say you have to do anything - Except - for Enjoy yourself and just go with your flow?

So, here is my experiment with the boarders-instead of planning to use the bias -I just went ahead and sewed around and left the hole to turn them right side out -then topstitch and complete the project! So, now I don't have to cut bias and fight with it on this project . It is completed. Yea!

It was a beautiful day today and I wish you could just hear the birds singing outside my sewing window.
Well, love to all!

Butterfly Mug Rug

I can hardly believe that "hump day" is here already. I got all the chores accomplished and got DH and I fed and then he had a doctor appointment to go have blood work done. He said he got really lucky today because the nurse did a great job at not hurting him. We both just really hate needles. : )

After that was over it was almost time for my counseling session.It seems like that is the highlight of each week for me.A time to connect with another female human being who tries to wade through my life and help me make some kind of sense of it all.It seems like each age has been a different chapter and I need to use each one to build on and learn from -hoping to become a better person as I tackle each new lesson and learn how to file each old one.

On the way home DH has to stop and pick up a gallon of oil for his tractor and lawn mower. I am always so relieved to see  home and I go about doing evening chores while he works on his tractor. Then I make a break for the sewing room and my heart kinda skips a beat to be allowed to imagine what I want to create.

I pull out the "Magic Trash Can /fabric storage  and decide on this piece with the butterflies. They always represent to me a time of transformation and that is one thing that all of us humans share-each day is a brand new day and we change daily.

With this piece I decided to pick out two of the Main butterflies for my center-piece. At first it feels like a waste -but then I decide not , as it is just a teeny weeny little sliver and it will leave me with something of beauty instead of  just a mixture of colors. Kinda like our days are -some days we really accomplish something that stands out in our mind -and some days they are just a mixture of events?

The butterfly fabric I had bought a few years ago when I made everyone aprons and this one was for my beloved friend, Ruth because she loves flowers and butterflies and birds . The pink piece was actually a scrape piece that Ruth had given me when I was cleaning for her one day. My dear friend will be 91 this Summer and she is still the Queen of her own house and a remarkable person. If only we could All be like her as we age, able to keep our abilities about us and run our own lives. She is inspirational to me. : )

Well, shoot -  time has flown away and I have to stop .
Sending love to all : )

What does this look like to you?

I bet you are thinking - a trash can-well, you might be half right-but a big trash can was a lot cheaper than any plastic tote I could find at the time and they fix right up under my cutting table.

These leftover pieces were ones from all of my smaller projects -like those ornaments and the check book covers and the aprons. I had these left over pieces and I could not bring myself to donate them ? I kept hoping that I would find a use for them - Yet - we all know how hard it is to have enough "storage space" for hopeful dreams?

Then enters the "Mug Rugs! Yea! A whole new life for some wonderful fabric.

I Love all these fabrics -and They ARE COTTONS! That is unusual for me to get to appreciate them. I start fumbling through them and I fall in love with this piece with all the owls. I got this piece to make my girlfriends daughter an apron and had this left over-so Now I know what to do with it. I get tickled with all these new projects online because it seems the crazier the mixture of designs -the better they do????

As I dig back in looking for something to finish out the front I run across this small leftover piece - and with this project - leftovers are a good thing. I will use this piece to set off the darker owls. : )

Now, I start off by squaring up my main piece. Just being able to handle it makes me happy and lifts my mood.

Remember what I said about strange fabric mixtures? Well, this one wins as one  of the ugliest pieces to me, but it was given to me and I do not want to waste it. It has similiar colors as the browns on the owls -so I think this might work for the backing.

Then I cut out the filling for the middle of my fabric sandwich.When I get to this stage  I always start to feel like this is too easy and that I should have to rearrange them so that when you would get them sewed together you would have to turn everything inside out and then just top stitch if you wanted to? I have not seen anybody do this - YET- LOL

Yes, I know this one is larger than the first ones , but I just could not bring myself to cut out the owls. If it turns out to be too big - then I can always use it on DH's table beside his chair where he makes all of his messes. I am learning to love how "the quilting process" changes the texture of the the fabrics.

O POO! I cannot believe this camera actually is working -so I take a second picture - just for good measure! : ) You know how it is - tomorrow it will not work unless it wants to and here lately that has not been very often.

Something else I have learned today is that the quilting process can even turn the ugliest fabric into something pretty with a whole different life of its own. : )

I just had to pass along that not only the camera is on the frets - my monitor also kicked the bucket today. It was giving me a fit last night and I just could not figure out what was going on. LOL So, I kidnapped DH's monitor from his computer just to make for sure  - and it works like a charm. So, I guess it is time to give the old one a fitting burial.

We have really had high winds today and the news was just talking about all the problems it has caused - SOOOOOO many customers without electricity and many building just Blown down  and thousands of  dollars of damage-so we really got lucky here!

Thank you guys for being the perfect ending for a perfect day. : )
love to all!