Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. Eleanor Roosevelt

Monday, December 19, 2011

Tea Drippings

This is it. The last week before the big day. Are you ready? Me? As ready as I'll ever be.
This year I don't have much spirit. I'm trying, but failing.
Another thing that doesn't help, injuring myself. This last week my absence was cause be the inability to use my right hand, my favorite hand. Thank goodness it's on the mend now, or you wouldn't be hearing from me now.
What have I done now? I've pulled the tendon in my middle finger.
Before you all think I've over used it on the Holiday drivers, rest assured that wasn't it.
But I've heard nothing but giggles from those who know the real story. So you are all going to have to imagine a good story.

I do have a bit of show and tell. I can start to feel my hand ache so I need to cut this short.
I made a big mug rug for my coffee table. The small coasters just looked like toys to the dogs, so I made a big one. Simple. My only problem, making round circles, but the tissue box covers those imperfect circles.

If I don't get back before the week is out, have a Wonderful Holiday!

Take care, Brandie

Friday, December 9, 2011

Star Light

I may have caught a little Holiday spirit. This week I finally got around to moving out all the fall decorations. (Except the Raven, his new home is in my dining and will stay there, forever!) But I had problems. I USE to keep decorations in my upstairs closet. Now that the girl moved back in, I needed to find a new place to keep my pillows, one big pillow. Remember the pumpkin pillow? Will it had to go. Then cousin Linda had a wonderful suggestion. Make a new cover! Shes so smart!

So I did. I went with a star theme and I think it turned out Great!
What do you think?
I found the pattern here. http://www.american-quilting.com

I also keep pictures in that closet. Now I'm thinking up a way to change those around too. My mind is whirling with ideas and a little Holiday spirit.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Take care, Brandie

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Ditched Dresdens

This quilt is becoming a favorite. I'm falling in love with my previous enemies, 30's prints. I've discovered a deep love for these dirty pieces of fabric.
What I think I like is the softness of these colors. The reproductions seem to have too much color for me. But I've had an epiphany. Why not tea or coffee stain the reproductions till their colors soften? If I do this, I'll let you know.

Anyway back to the quilt. I managed to complete all the stitching in the ditch. Next up, an actual era appropriate quilting motif.
I'm going to take my time and do the best job I can.
Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

Oh and I had another epiphany, I quilted my monogram in the middle Dresden. How cool is that?!
Of course when my Daughter came home, she renamed my initials into Something bad and dirty. Kids!
Yeah I laughed, but I'm none of those bad words.

Between quilting, I baked three applesauce cakes, an apple-cranberry pie and a loaf of bread. Boy did the house smell wonderful!

Today I've been working on a few stars. More about that tomorrow.

Take care, Brandie

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Waste Not

Remember the really green quilt? The one with the fairy, koi, water lilies and frog?
Well I discovered that I was over zealous in my cutting of strips. I knew I wanted a variety of strips in different sizes. What I didn't know was how many.
So to not be a waster, I sewed all those leftover strips into a backing for the quilt. How smart was that!?

I threw it all on the ground next to my chair and would grab any ol strip of fabric.
Of course there were quite a few small pieces but I just sewed them into bigger strips. Not bad, if I do say!

Next is to get that quilt finished up. That quilt show really got me off track! That is my plan for next week, get that green quilt sandwiched.

Ok, that's all from me at this moment. Time to get back to my chores.

Take care, Brandie

Few Stitches

I have but a little in the way of sewing. Just a seam or two to add the hexies to the baskets. Shame on me.
As usual, I had a few more problems with my blocks. Have I mentioned before that I'm a terrible piecer?
After reading a friends post, I've rethought my problem. My problem may be that I tend to sew a scant quarter inch seam. So I'll have to make more of an effort to sew better.

Today I'm going to sit at my machine and do some stitching in the ditch.
Monday I went to see with Gail and I sandwiched my antique Dresdens. I'm really excited to get started quilting on it. Well partly excited. I do worry it might not be good enough... but I must go on. If I start to worry, than I'll second guess every stitch. There are times when I wish I had the money to send my quilts out to get quilted, but I also like knowing that this quilt is all my own, mistakes and all.


Take care, Brandie

Friday, December 2, 2011

Shining Stars

This may be the only Christmas decoration I'll get up this year. I bought these paper stars at Ikea a couple months back and if cousin Linda hadn't called and asked me where I hung them, we might not have any decorations.
My son asked me if I wanted a tree. I think it was just an excuse to go four wheeling in the mountains. But I thought, where am I even going to find room for a tree? On top of the dining table that is sitting in front of the window seat? In front of the TV?
There just doesn't seem to be a place, yet. Besides, Christmas is about family, friends and food, not trees. Right?

I'm heading to my machine and hopefully by next week I'll have some more to show you.

Have a lovely weekend!
Take care, Brandie

Thursday, December 1, 2011

BOM Baskets

I worked all morning making these #¥£ baskets. The smallest pieces are cut at one inch. Lynn, what are you doing to me?! I've unstiched one block twice and given up. It will just have to do. I'm tired. The second block came out a bit better.
Also I don't know if I lost the basket handle fabric (red and yellow basket) or if it wasn't included. But I improvised. I used two of my leftover fabrics and if the points matched up, it would be perfect.
The second basket (yellow and green) is my RP version. The jury is still out on which I'll like best.
I've been hoarding (again? I have serious problems!) these RP fabrics for years and I just may get over them with this quilt.

So here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Take care, Brandie

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Tuesday

I did it! I actually sat at my machine and... did some mending.
I know, Boring!
But then I put together two blocks. Did you catch that? Two blocks!
These are for our guild meeting on Thursday. Talk about procrastination. I waited till the week of to get them done.

I also finished up the little bird house block. Next is to go back to last month and make a basket block. If I get time today, it's next on my to-do list.

But first, I need to get ready to go out and do some shopping. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll miss the crowds.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Good morning! I've missed you all! I'm the one at fault. I don't seem to have my act together. Things in my household are all up in the air, or more realistically, on the floor and in every room.
Good news is, the Daughter is moved in. Bad news, so is must of her stuff. We are all trying to marry two households. I assume (we all know what this makes me) we will be doing this for months to come.

Maximus and PugsLee are getting along, as well as can be expected from an only elderly fur child and a puppy.

I'm hoping with the changes around here, that I'll get back into the swing of things. I haven't touched my machine in weeks. I did do a little appliqué. Just a little.
Right now it's more important to have clean dishes and laundry than it is too find time to sew. But cross your fingers for me. All work and no sewing will make me a "B" to live with.

I received the next BOM package. In it I learned that those little hexies I had made, really were too little. They forgot to include them in the last pack. But I'm going to use those little hexies somewhere. I had a lot of fun making them and they are so cute, it'd be a waste not to use them.
Also here is the newest block I'm working on.

So we come to the end. I hope to see you all later this week. I'm really trying hard to have something to show you. Till then...

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Gobble Gobble


Here at Creative Casa, it's pie making day. Tomorrow is pig out day.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!


Take care, Brandie

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Tiny Stitches

Ok, I tried to be here yesterday. Good intentions and everything.
I threw my back out (bad choice of words) on Saturday. My punishment for hoarding gobs and gobs of Christmas decorations. Made the whole process of cleaning the attic that much more difficult. Thank goodness my good boy came home and helped me yesterday. We more or less finished moving and arranging the attic. Today we only have to move that dresser that I've been using as a prop, up stairs. And more good news, my back feels 50 percent better this morning.
I also feel so much better about myself. Fun how cleaning can do that. I now have clean corners everywhere. I really like that feeling!

There will be quite a change around here. With the Daughter and Maximus moving in Maximus is like a real baby. I alway vacuum before he gets here because like a real baby, he will find anything on the floor.
A couple of weeks ago he found one of those sock hangers. Nobody around here has bought any socks in awhile!

This is also going to be a BIG change for poor elderly PugsLee. She is use to being the princess. And Maximus has always left before. Poor girl!

So if you are still here, want to see the little bit I've been doing?
These are to Lynn's (sewninwildoaks.blogspot) BOM.
She even warned of their addicted quality, she was right!
And as before, if you remember, I'm doing this BOM twice. Once with Lynn's fabrics and once with my collected Robyn Pandorph's fabrics. So here they are. Tiny little hexies.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Star Mug Rugs

What a week! I already am exhausted. Why? First I had to finish all those stars.
I made mug rugs for all my faithful Quilt Show workers. And I must have been crazy! These are little paper pieced stars from Judy Mathieson's book Mariner's Compass book. We used a lot of these stars in our Opportunity quilt and I thought it would be a good memento to remember this years QS. After about three, I was ready to re-think that whole plan! But I continued on, complaining to myself. And I finished! Sure I was finishing the binding on 10 or so yesterday morning, the day of our Celebration meeting. Have I mentioned how I procrastinate?
I obviously like this color combo. Years ago I bashed a bunch of tile and made my outdoor table a beautiful compass rose mosaic, not unlike this little mug rug.
First batch of 6.
Second batch of 6.
Last batch of 6. Glad to be done!
One great thing about these mug rugs, all scraps. Not a thing was bought to complete these. That I love! In fact I may not hate these as much as I first thought. I'm think I need a matching set for my own house. Now I just need to do it...

Because we were having a Celebration last night, I thought we needed a special treat. So out came the cake pans and gum paste.


Unfortunately, I have very little patience (another flaw). I gave up trying to make the frosting smooth and just covered it with a ribbon. Yes I could have put fondant on it, but I don't like it. I didn't like working with it or eating it, so why bother. But gum paste, that I like. And it makes such beautiful flowers that you can use to hide ugly bits.

So I'm now done with other things and I hope to get back to my own things. There is no pressing agenda, outside of my own head.
Except the "C" holiday. But I'm kind of still a humbug and I don't want to hear about it, so I'm sticking my head in the sand. Don't tell me!

In other news, my Daughter is coming home, just in time for Thanksgiving! She said for a month or two, but I'm not complaining (yet). The only problem? Two and a half years ago, I moved into her room and my old room, a converted attic, became a storage room. Can you say "Hoarder", yeah apparently that's me too. So I have been going through years of "I'll get to that later" boxes. I have found a lot of baby clothes that I have saved for the kids. Every little outfit brings memories of yesteryear.
So now that I've explained my tardiness, I'll try to do better next week. Bring on the fabric! I need to use up some creativity. You know, use my skills to create and stop wasting it on cleaning. Yea, I like that.

Take care, Brandie


Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Wrinkled Quilt Top

Don't you hate when your days don't go as planned? I'm sure we all do. And I think you can tell my day didn't go as planned.
I just managed to sew eight seams and complete the Dresden quilt top. This was how I planned to start the day, but...
Maybe after dinner I'll find some time to finish a few more stars, but "some like it hot" is coming on TCM tonight. Sure I've seen it almost a million times, I just love a man in drag! Don't get me started on Dr Frank-n-furter. Tim Curry Is too much!
So here you go a few wrinkled pics of old dirty Dresdens.

Take care, Brandie

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Old Dresdens

I have finally finished all ten Dresden blocks. I've been carting them around with me for awhile. It feels good to have them ready for the next step. Maybe tomorrow they'll turn into a quilt top. Then again, maybe not.

Also at the top of the picture, you can see the stars I've been working on. I tried making a deal with myself to finish two of those a day and well, that hasn't worked as well as I planned.
I'm easily distracted (velvets).
I've been sketching and dreaming up a quilt to showcase those velvets. This is when I wish I could draw.

I'm learning to embrace the imperfection in each of these blocks. At first they bothered me. Now I think the flaws make them look more antique.
I will start researching an age appropriate quilting for this top. I'm kind of excited about that.

So I'll leave you with this little tease. Till tomorrow.

Take care, Brandie

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween

May all your tricks be fun and treats sweet! Have a Happy day!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Possessed

I have another idea in my head and I found the most loveliest of lovely fabrics to use. These fabrics beg to be touched. And when touched they cause drooling. Unfortunately, I can not let you get any closer than you are for fear of drool and germs.
I have myself a little box of jewels. Nice some velvety jewels. All I can say is that I may be creating a dog free quilt. Because we all know about dog drool. This quilt may be off limits to poor PugsLee.
If all goes to plan, I may even use this dupioni silk as a background. I'm going to break all the rules. And I may even use wool in it too. I said I wasn't going to start collecting new fabrics, but I was inspired by another blog (Material Obsession) and there is no looking back. I'm like a woman possessed.
Oh to have more time in the day! I want to do it all.

Take care, Brandie

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Recap

Thank you all who stopped by to look at my Ghastly project. All your nice comments have gone straight to my head and I feel as big as a house, kind of like Alice in Wonderland. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to make an extra as agive away for one of you Wonderful readers.
I hope to get to all your comment soon.

Cherise from Annie's blog won yesterdays give away. But keep it up and go and visit all the other participating blogs for more chances to win.

Several of you had asked where I got the embroidery pattern. I just took a piece of the Ghastly fabric to the window and I copied the haunted house onto a piece of paper. Than I took that paper to the the copier and enlarged it. Next I took some marbled orange fabric in almost the same color and copied the paper to the fabric.
Then I stitched away. For the roof tiles, trees and window panes, I just used my permanent marker to draw them in.
There you have it, easy-peasy.

Hey, did you notice my Ghastly Inn sign? Does it remind you of another ghastly hotel? Perhaps a tower in England? With a tall owner? An incompetent waiter?

Now how about a little retail therapy?
While at the Show, I managed to do a little shopping. I said I needed some cheddar and I got some! A reproduction. It looks a little dark, but I'm happy with it. I saw it used in a quilt and it didn't look so dark so maybe it just looks dark because there is so much of it. How much? I bought two yards. And I plan to buy more cheddars so let me know if you have a favorite, please!
Also in this pile is a few yellows for my Golden Chain tree. That corral color, well just because it was pretty.

Then I went to the antique vendor and found this beautiful tablecloth. I'm going to turn it into another whole cloth quilt. Just layer it and quilt it up.
Last, but not least, were these gorgeous fall plaids. I keep walking by and drooling. I finally stopped and bought them. I feel a little guilty about these because there are no plans for them. But I didn't let that stop me! And they look so beautiful with that cheddar. Like a grilled cheese sandwich, warm and wholesome!
I will try to make this my last post about the Quilt Show. I thought these were important pictures to post. These are the winners of our ballots.

First up we have Phyllis Cullen's "Treetop Pair", that won "Best Art Quilt".
This is my favorite and I was really glad to come back and see a ribbon on it. This is Ester Abshier's " Mariners in a Pickle". This huge quilt won "Best Large Quilt". She said on her information that this was a challenge to finish, but she keep up on it and is now glad she did.
Marilyn Graesser's "Stars for A". This was "Viewers Choice".
Sally Jo Smith Won "Best use of Color" for her "Flower Basket Medallion". Seeing two of these in the Show has maybe encouraged me to finish mine.
And my friend Jozette Rutherford Won the "Best Small Quilt" for her "Mystical Manzanita".
All these winners came as no surprise. No that doesn't mean I rigged the winnings. These were just the quilts I would have picked.
Sally Jo is a genius when it comes to color. Phyllis is one of our best art quilters. Marilyn is a perfect piecer. Jozette is a master appliqué and one of my favorite teachers. And come on, Esther's quilt is Fantastic!

Ok if you are still with me, here is todays list of Ghastlies.
Have fun and good Luck!

Take care, Brandie

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Ghastly Blog Hop

So sorry everyone, here I am, a little late but I made it finally. Here it is, the best thing in blogging this month The Ghastly Blog Hop. I see that several of you are waiting to see my creation. It isn't much but here we go...
A lovely orange quilt for PugsLee and I to cuddle under on cool nights.
When I saw this orange Ghastly print from Quilt Taffy, I knew I had to have it. I just didn't know how much I needed and so I made a miscalculation and I'll now show how I fixed that.
Here you go, an embroidered middle block. Keep that in mind when you run out of fabric. Or just do like some of my friends. If they see a fabric they like, they but three yards and end up with scraps.
I just didn't realize how much was going on in this fabric and didn't know where to cut it to get the full story. But now I know one yard is never enough!

The coven of witches is still my favorite. Maybe because I feel a kindred spirit from them?
And that tree fabric, you can't have enough of that, it's amazing!

Go check out the others who are posting today (as if you hadn't been there already).

There you have it, a Ghastly Day. Go and enjoy and be inspired!

Take care, Brandie