Hot, Hot and Hotter


     I know I am hot here in Vermont with a long stretch of 90 plus days this week . Absolutely no air is moving. We have one room with an air conditioner in it but other than that we are braving the heat. And then I quit fussing when I see how hard the farmers are working in this heat to get their hay in. I love seeing all the bales of hay on the fields. And I see how hot my fair skinned 14 year old is after working for a few hours at the dairy barn…and I quit complaining. She has been getting up at 5:30 this week just to get her cows ready for her first 4H show this week. It’s a little cooler then but not much. I am sweating just sitting here typing. Thank goodness it will turn this weekend.

     Computer fixed and much better. I always second guess my ability to know when things aren’t right with it and blame it on my lack of knowledge rather than feel for how it’s working. Oh well. Maybe my brain is just fried this week….

     One for my goals for this summer was to dye a lot of fabrics. I like to dye here in my barn and have myself supplied for the year as far as fabric is concerned. A secondary goal was to practice all of these techniques I have recently learned. And figure out if it is something I would like to use and how to integrate it into what I am doing. So I tried acrylic wash which I was introduced to from Velda Newman.

     I took a piece of fabric and placed it in a hoop. I wet the canvas with a clean brush.

Then I took just a little acrylic paint-very watered down- and began spreading it on the canvas. I only had three colors. Then I used  some miscellaneous tools and just played with these two pieces I let them air dry for about two days and then threw them in the washing machine, air dried them again and ironed. I was surprised how soft they were. There was a little fading but not much. It just softened it. Voila, two new pieces of very unique fabric.

    I would use this again. But wouldn’t buy more paint at this time unless I have a 50 percent off coupon!

  Had a bad day today. It happens. People just not acting nicely here and need to think of how to handle it tomorrow. I’ll just think of my double rainbow from last week instead! Isn’t it beautiful? 
Happy thoughts, my friends!

A Sick Computer

I started having problems last week with my computer and blamed it on my lousy dial up. Well dial up is still lousy and slow but my computer is just sick. It has gone to the computer hospital today. After I got my car keys back from my huband who mistakenly took them back to MI with him. The fed ex man was a hero this morning- he said three people don’t usually greet him in the driveway. Keys back, computer gone. So we solve one problem and another one comes along…no big deal but just an inconvenience.

So I’ll be back when the computer is back. It’s really hot here-95! Time to find some water.
Happy Summer, my friends!

Freedom 2010

Happy 4th of July my friends. Hope you enjoy the freedoms that we have here in America. I pieced this little flag this week and it’s not yet quilted. Ever since Robin Ferrier did a flag about a year ago, I have wanted to do one too. Super easy and just what I needed to get going again. Freedom 2010-22×28 unquilted.

                                                  

Happy 4th of July, my friends!

Sunshine and Fearless

         I am exhausted. The fun has not stopped here today. It was such a beautiful day that we decided we would try to round up enough strawberries for a pie tomorrow. It’s been a new tradition the past few years as I have the easiest strawberry pie recipe- I am not a baker. But the field was picked clean. I have never seen anything like. No pie for us tomorrow. Maybe ice cream. It’s easier. The yellow fabric is some sunshine for you this July 4th. I managed to squeeze this in yesterday morning.

And then a little earth and sky for you too. The blues were really pretty this batch.

A good week’s work and fun.

Fearless: I am deathly afraid of heights. Who knows why I agreed to buy a second home in VT. But today I hiked to the top of Mount Elmore. No it wasn’t Mount Mansfield but it was  a good sized mountain. So no not technically fearless was I, but I made it. The first time in the seven years we have had the house. ( I am not sure they will invite me again.) I was very slow…. Had fun though.

Happy Summer, my friends.

Next week I will have quilt show pics. I need to figure out how to re-size them.

So What Do You Think?

     I feel a bit stuck and would love to hear your opinion. No major decisions or anything but just an inconvenience for me. I am in Vermont for another six weeks. ( I know- I lead a really tough life…)

  There are many things that I love about being here.

 But the one thing I really dislike seems to be more inconvenient this time-lack of internet service. I knew I was reliant on the computer for many things but I wasn’t blogging last summer. I really do enjoy it and I miss it if I don’t do it. Is the pain og blogging with dial up service worht it? Dial-up service is the only thing available to me and my pictures distort and turn out all blurry. It had taken me 50 minutes to download these meager photos….

So I guess my choices are 1.take a break for six weeks. Or 2.continue with less photos and may be just twice a week? So I don’t drive myself crazy. I am not a very patient computer person….

Quilt related updates:40 yards of fabric dyed-least you think I am not working! and one piece being worked on .

 So what do you think? Do you take time to read blogs in the summer? Is it less often or time to take a break?

Happy Summer,my friends!

A Warm Rainy Day

  
  I finally felt like I could think again today. Everything is unpacked and put away. Groceries are put away. And it’s a warm rainy day here in Vermont. I spent the moring sewing. Slow mindless strip piecing with a few of the fabrics I brought with me. I decided to go backwards -I just seem stuck with all the new info so I went back to easy piecing. And it was just plain nice again. Not much brain work involved and I loved it.

     The kids were settling down and playing darts in the garage so I decided to start dyeing fabric in the barn when I saw the sun starting to peek out this afternoon. I picked a few colors I had purchased smaller samples of at the Quilt Festival on Saturday-butterscotch, eggplant, teal blue, nickel and then one color that was just a mix of old dyes I had. I thought I would just start out with about ten yards for today.

     Well you know how that works out. It just multiplies. I had lots of different kinds of fabrics that were leftover form previous dyeing days-linen, linen-cotton blend, broadcloth and just plain PFD cotton from Testfabrics. I kept going until I ran out of containers.

   It’s always nice to see your work all lined up.

Another rainy day tomorrow to wash it all out. Sorry these pictures are so blurry. My dial up connection is killing me! If anyone has any suggestions ,I will take them . Almost worth selling a  sewing machine for some type of a computer solution-just kidding!
Happy Sewing, my friends!

37 Hours

     I have had an adventure beyond belief. I traveled from Michigan to Vermont for our summer vacation on Thursday. I was pretty excited to think that it would take me a mere 7 hours and my daughter and I would be there ahead of another portion of the family. (Various family coming and going all summer.College girl and grandma at home…very confusing- just trust me.) Well I was getting very smug with myself with the thought of big dogs riding in car with lots of stuff and husband driving. I would just jet in in less than a day. And be refreshed after a few days of pre chaos sewing.

But, it took a mere 37 hours for me to get here. Yup-37 hours and involved missed flights, delays, an overnight adventure, a re-route to Washington,DC…and finally two days later…Peg’s Taxi. Which meant the end of our journey. And the beginning of our vacation.

I came here earlier than the rest of the family to make it for the Vermont Quilt Festival. I went there today and had a great time. More pictures later when I can find wi-fi at the local library. Pictures take way too long to download with dial up service. I wanted to check in and let you know I am still here!

I just need to sew to be a tolerable person to be around after that horrible experience.

And have a cup of Green Mountain coffee.

More intelligent posts coming.

Happy Sewing, my friends.

The Finish Fairy

     I am dreaming of the fairy that is going to get me off my duff , wave her magic wand  and  sprinkle lots of magic dust and then I will finish something wonderful. And then I will write this amazing blog post and have a million followers. Hah..my dream continues and ….I am amazingly productive, daringly creative and thin.

    But in my real life, I have just been trying to catch up. And keep up. And no matter how hard I was trying to dig out, I couldn’t make any headway. I have big gardens and they just needed to be thinned out and replanted. Nothing got done last fall because of my silly foot. And kids just needed to be kids and have a million kids over hanging a million wet towels all over the place. But the garden is ok for now.  The kids have settled down a bit into summer and need less to just be and relax into summer laziness.

    So the finish fairy and I had a date this morning and at 7:56 am a finish was born.

                                                      
                                     Lisa’s Quilt: 42×52

     I used hand dyed cottons, commercial batiks, hand dyed silk ribbon, embroidery and machine quilting in this quilt. It is a commission that has been around for way too long. I really had trouble with this one. And it came down to the fact I just don’t like browns -it was hard for me. (and me procrastinating) A lot of stalls along the way waiting for our schedules to coincide for approval. (and me procrastinating) But once I got past that and did exactly what my friend wanted, it came together. She is happy with it and will be excited to have it. Actually-when she saw it last week she said it rocks. And her being happy with it is the only thing that  mattered. Because it’s hers.

     I learned quite a bit from this process. 1. I was able to work with a color that was not my favorite. 2. I always underestimate how long it actually takes to complete a quilt from start to finish. 3. As long as they stay true to what I like design wise, I can do a commission and be satisfied with my results. And get paid for it.

  
      My yardwork is done too and now I am just going to enjoy a cup of coffee in my rocking chair on the porch. I can’t tell you how good I feel that this is DONE.

Happy Sewing, my friends!

Beach

     We went to the beach yesterday for a party. Water is so relaxing and the breeze was just so soft. It reminded me of the colors in one of my little woven pieces from the cloth to cloth workshop from Jude Hill. (I am sad I didn’t join in to play on the class blog!) So I added a little bit of sun.

     And there was more sun to save for later.

     On a cloudy lazy day like today, sewing seems like a good thing to do. I am adding some handwork to my friend’s quilt. Then on to the binding and sleeve on a pretty big piece. I have promised it to her this weekend.

Happy sewing, my friends!

Slower Things

     I will show you some more pictures of my Nancy Crow workshop piece but not until it is done. I am working on two things this week. One is my commission piece and I am still machine quilting. My goal was to have it done by the 15th. We’ll see….I told her the 24th bit it would be nice to have it done sooner.

     I am also taking an online class called cloth to cloth workshop with Jude Hill. It was a five week class on developing this cloth weaving with raw edge pieces and this is the last week. Tearing, weaving, layering and hand stitching the piece before the piece is embellished. I haven’t been much of a completer but did little samples so I could have the techniques down. She has prepared great little videos for us and a blog to post your work. All the videos files have been put into PDF files so we can download it and keep it in notebook for reference.

     So why not just buy a book and save some money? (Or better yet take a book out of the library and not spend any money). 60$ versus a 25$ book? Well, I am a visual learner. I need to see someone do the technique and then I can do it. But the format that she has set up of a blog to post your work and ask questions is really worthwhile. She has spent a massive amount of time answering questions and responding to people’s work. Each person has interpeted the work differently so it inspires you.

     It was well worth it and she is a great teacher as well as talented person. I can’t wait to spend time with these techniques. A nice small project size and something to use up all the scraps I seem to be accumulating. Recycling-I love this. And the process of hand stitching is really relaxing for me.

Only crazy people take blog pictures with the birds chirping before 7:15 am! And I will need to be a little crazier than usual in order to keep working this summer.

Happy Sewing, my friends!