Friday, December 30, 2011

Birthday Girl

Today is my daughter's birthday.  She has the misfortune of having her birthday trailing right after Christmas so she's always felt her birthday was a little anti-climatic.  Her oldest cousin was born two years after her to the day.  She, too, has  felt her birthday was always usurped by the earlier holiday.  Last year, the girls got to celebrate their birthdays together after many years of living apart.  Her husband and I had t-shirts made with their pictures on them, took them out to eat, and generally celebrated in style.  This year the two are continuing the joint birthday observance with a trip to their favorite restaurant and getting to spend the day together.

After Thanksgiving my daughter and I were buying fabric at Joann's for Christmas gifts when she spied the brocade fabrics.  "Some day," she said, "I ought to buy some of that and make a robe for myself."  A week later, the brocades were on sale.  She was gone for the day so I made a quick trip to purchase a turquoise and magenta (her favorite colors) fabric and pattern.

Over the next few weeks, whenever she was gone from the house for a few hours, I worked on the robe.  This was the first time I had made a robe with a shawl collar. I'm not a novice seamstress, so this should be easy, right?  Is it just me or have sewing pattern directions gotten more and more incomprehensible. The directions were brief and the picture showed only the back   It took me three days to figure out how the collar went together.  Finally it came to me.  After that the robe went together easily.  Here is the result of my labor.

I also made her a purse for Christmas out of fabrics having the same teal and purple theme.  This actually was the first attempt at making a purse. Earlier I blogged about a brown bag that I made for her cousin.  But since M reads my blog, I couldn't show it. Since then I added a small matching bag that can be used for keys or cards or tissues and carried inside the larger purse.
I think I'm finally caught up on UFOs and sewing for other people.  Now it is my turn.  A year ago I was in a wonderful fabric store in Newton, KS.  The walls are hung with gorgeous quilts and they carry a glorious array of beautiful fabrics.  There hanging on the wall was a sampler quilt with which I fell in love.  Sampler quilts are a favorite of mine because each block is different so there is no boredom--always piecing a new block and the same goes with the quilting.  How interesting to figure out how to quilt each block.  So I bought the pattern and have spent the year collecting fabrics.  At last I'm ready to begin.  I will enlarge the pattern to make another king-sized quilt.  You may have seen the pattern.  It is "Wing and a Prayer" by Tonga Nature.  I figure I'll be working on this for the next year.

A new project for a new year.  Happy New Year everyone!


Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Homemade Christmas

This year my family decided that the gifts we would give for Christmas will be homemade.  Starting in Sept.  I made fleece throws for my niece's two children. Her daughter who is nine is really into zebra fabric.  I was lucky to find the fleece with that pattern.  Her eleven year old brother is into black so I used a leopard print for his throw.  The idea was given to me by my dear cousin who, for my birthday back in August, made one for me using this darling fleece covered with kitty faces. Then in December my daughter and I made throws for her aunt and uncle in Arizona using Southwest themed fabric. Thiswas a fun project requiring no sewing and was  great to sit in front of the TV to do.

In my November blog I showed you the purse I had made for my niece. I also made one for my daughter, but I can't show it until after Christmas. This is kind of fun to taunt her with it since she reads my blog also. 

But then there were the guys.  For my niece's husband  I made my first batch of jalapeno jelly.  He is a Texan in the true since of "It's got to burn you eyes, nose, and throat to be hot enough".  In the last year, he discovered jalapeno jelly.  So I gave it a whirl.  It looks real pretty with its orange red color.  I had my daughter taste it as she had sampled the store bought jelly he liked. She said it was hotter than what he had tried before so it should pass muster for any Texan. 

Finally made the last Christmas gift this morning--more jelly.  I always make jelly for my father-in-law. This year I tried using a black cherry/grape juice.  It didn't gel.  I went on-line and looked up what to do and redid the whole batch.  It still didn't gel.  This morning I decided to call that batch "pancake syrup", went to the store and bought cranberry juice (which I had used before), and made his jelly a third time.  Looks like this one will turn out.

This has been a great experience in taking the commercialization out of the holidays and return to a simpler way of giving. Guess I better start thinking up ideas for next Christmas as waiting until Sept. was almost too late.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Christmas Kitties

I want to thank Shay for hosting Favorite Things Friday  so I could post about our new family additions.

We finally have two new Quilt Inspectors.  Yes, Christmas kitties!  Michelle and I have adopted two rescue cats from the local Humane Society.  It has been over a year since I've had a pet.  I would keep saying, "Someday I want to get a cat to keep me company."  But I'd would come up  with excuses like, " What if I wanted to travel?"  (I hate traveling.)  or "Do I really want the responsibility (cleaning the litter box)?"  Or "What kind of cat do I want (adult or kitten)?"  But last weekend, Michelle broached the subject so we were off on a cat hunt.

We drove to Pet Smart, having a lead on a gray female, filled out the paper work, then we were told it would be 3-5 days with no guarantee we would be chosen as adoptive parents.  So we headed to the new Humane Society recently built here in Wichita.  A beautiful, fabulous facility with large glass cages with climbing trees for each cat and soft snuggly beds for the dogs.  They actually were low on adult cats, but had two the staff thought we might be interested in.

http://www.kshumane.org/about/virtual-tour.htm

There was very little information on the first kitty they brought us as she had been a stray.  She is a tiny cat with a notched ear.  Plainly you could see she had had a hard time on the street.  Immediately, she climbed in my lap, made her way to my neck, put both paws around it, and began to snuggle in.   Okay!  That did it!  She was going home.

Then the volunteer said that before we made our decision maybe we would want to look at one other cat--a long haired orange cat that had been placed with them because her previous owners had health problems and were unable to take care of her.  She, too, was a lover.  It became obvious that she was going home too.

After five days our family is adjusting well.  Cinnamon (the black and orange cat) and Lovebug (the orange cat) are learning our routines as we are theirs.  What a beautiful way to celebrate the holidays!


Thursday, December 15, 2011

Trying New Techniques

Fall has always been a favorite season of mine.  Two years ago I decided to combine my love of fall color with learning something new.  For years I had said, "I'm not making any more full size quilts.  I want to do smaller projects so I can learn new techniques."  So I came up with the idea of making a pair of wall hangings to go on either side of a chest of drawers I had.  The new techniques I was to explore were trying my had at a landscape, needle turn applique, and free motion quilting (something besides stippling). 

I found some large butcher paper and drew my landscape.  Then the fun part came of locating just the right fabrics.  Living in a rural community at the time, brought some challenges in finding the appropriate fabrics there so I turned to on-line stores.  I felt so lucky to have found the bark like fabric for the trees and a grass like fabric for the foreground.

Two years ago, I began the process of appliqueing the tree and the foreground for both wall hangings. Next I began making the leaves for one of the trees using fusible interfacing and a small Clover iron to turn under the edges.  Then life happened and the project was packed away for two different moves.  Late last summer I finally found the project and finished one of the pair in time to hang it for this autumn season.

The second piece was put on hold until after the holiday sewing was completed.  So this week I've pinned the leaves in place for it and hope to begin appliqueing the leaves in place.  Maybe I'll  have the pair by next fall.


This has been an interesting project due to trying so many techniques that were new for me.  And with any project I always see things that I had wished I had done differently.  But that just means I'll have to dream up a new project.  Oh, what fun!


Friday, December 9, 2011

Urban Wildlife

Last spring I moved to the city-- Wichita, KS, population 300,000.  The area I moved to has been developed in the last ten to fifteen years with multiple housing developments.  Before that, this area was composed of a horse farm and wheat fields.  As part of a flood control project, each of these developments has its own small lake.  But it was much to my surprise and delight when I began to realize the large wildlife communities living in the city.  My backyard backs up to a 4 lane thoroughfare and yet the variety of animal life continues to thrive.  Here are some of the species that adorn my neighborhood.




One morning I looked out my kitchen window and was able to capture this cardinal pair.  I couldn't get them together as they were too excitable to stay still long enough for me to get them both in one photo.



My camera does not have the greatest of zooms, but these are mallard ducks.  They have been with us all summer.  They are so tame because the neighbors feed them.  They will follow you right into your garage or patio.







The Canadian geese arrived about a month ago.  While it is hard to tell, the geese are standing on the ice.






Why, you may ask, is she showing a brick wall.  The answer is that this is the Squirrel Highway.  It runs about a quarter of a mile down the housing development.  Squirrels, and even the occasional opposum, use it to run back and forth to get from tree to tree or from feeder to feeder.  Why no squirrel?  I'm not fast enough to catch a picture of them.  Maybe someday.

Others in the neighborhood had seen red fox, skunks, and deer.  I'm still on the lookout for these species.

As a new blogger this is so much fun being a part of Shay's Favorite Things Friday.




My Holiday Treat

Ah, the joy of a project completed!  My Asian quilt project came to an end last night. I'm dancing on air, giving big sighs of relief, and feeling so full of myself.

Last spring I moved into a new house and found myself with a large basement bedroom and no furniture.  So I quickly bought a king-size bed, found just the right night stands for half price at a "Going out of Business Sale", and was lucky to find lamps at Hobby Lobby that were the same metal finish as the bed's headboard.  Only problem was all I had to cover the bed was a ratty, summer quilt (a rather failed project to begin with).  Therefore there was nothing to do but make a new king-sized quilt.   I started it in June and completing it in Dec. makes for a great holiday treat. 

I have loved this pattern as it is both quick, easy, and striking.  I'm thinking of all kinds of projects in which I can incorporate "braids".  This time, though, I'M MAKING SOMETHING SMALL!!!.  This is an oft repeated litany of mine.  Maybe sometime I will adhere to it as I've already started another king-size quilt for the bed upstairs.




I am linking up with Sarah's Confessions of a Fabric Addict.



Friday, December 2, 2011

Grandma's Artistry

My husband's grandmother, Mollie (1900-1982), was a true artist.  While her main responsibilities in life were that of a Kansas farmer's wife, her modest home was filled with the efforts from her creative side.  Her daily routine of cooking, cleaning, laundry, gardening, raising chickens, caring for her 2 children, and helping Grandpa in the field would have been enough for any woman, yet she still found time to fill  their home with her creative endeavors.  She made the family quilts, made much of their clothing, crocheted beautiful table cloths, edgings for pillowcases, afghans, toilet paper holders, and pot holders, embroidered tea towels and curtains, painted on fabric, and made beautiful copper tooled pictures.

My favorite of all her creations is a copper tooled picture of our pioneers and their conestoga wagon.  This picture hung in her home until her passing, then was given to my husband. It has hung in our homes in Kansas and Nevada, always carefully packed whenever we moved.  It now is the centerpiece over my fireplace in my new home.
 
I spoke with my father-in-law, Bill, about how the picture came to be.  It seems that Mollie took classes from the County Extension in the early fifties and learned this technique.  A thin metal sheet of copper is the canvas.  The picture was drawn and then transferred to the back of the copper using carbon paper.  The copper sheet is then set on a soft surface (he thought it might have been soft blankets or possibly foam).  Today you can buy embossing tools, but he said they used what ever was on hand like spoons to push the design into the copper, creating a convex picture on the front. On the front, parts of the picture were painted black to highlight the copper forms.  Then a clear coat was used to seal the total picture.  Bill thought that a thin layer of plaster was used on the back to help the picture retain its shape and protect it from denting.  Then a thin sheet of ply wood was attached to complete the backing.

Grandma Mollie was an amazing woman, but the beauty and heritage shown in this picture is my favorite thing out of all the things she accomplished.