Just a little bit

A little bit of snow...

now you see it, now you don't - what a difference an hour can make!

We got just a dusting in this area and the winds are blowing, blowing, blowing!  Virginia seems to be in worse shape because some of the schools are closed, I understand the road surfaces are the reason.

Just a bit of sewing...

to be sure yet again that I didn't want to go with light sashings, I laid some houses out on a piece of off-white fabric... I just don't like it!

I went ahead with the black sashings but I cut them down by 1/2 inch...

My sister Ruby would call it "majoring on the minor."  I'm going to finish this little top today after I run an errand, put it in the done pile!

The good news is I went to Costco yesterday and got a $45 refund on my printer - I didn't even have to take it in!  I just showed them the receipt and after a lot of fiddling - for some reason the computer kept rejecting the coupon code - I got my money refunded.

Does anybody remember way back in the last century when we didn't even have computers??  If you wanted a refund the clerk would bring out a bedraggled ledger book, look up your info, call over the manager to authorize it and refund your money? 

No cell phones, no social media, no apps, no iPads, no Facebook, no rotary cutters, no blogs - OMG what did we do without blogs!??

Sew forth and sew on...

Gearing up

The weather has been so roller-coaster lately, with the temperature swinging from cold, warm, cold again all in a one week span.  Now it's back to cold, so that means it's time to bring out a bold new plan - grits!!

When I was growing up our main breakfast food was grits - you either got grits and sausage or grits and fatback, but it was always "grits-and".  I was so tired of grits, I promised myself that when I "got big" (which was another way of saying "when I grew up and moved out of mama and daddy's house and got a job and my own house and be able to do whatever I wanted to do and they could kiss my foot and nobody could tell me nuthin'") I would not eat another spoonful of grits!  But one day about 35-odd years ago I got to wanting me some grits - hello!!

So now I'm not only a reconverted grits eater, but I'm also a grits lover.  One morning when I reached for my box of grits (I had a taste for grits and salmon cakes) there was barely a spoonful left in the box, I had forgotten to buy some.  I was going to Costco that day so I acted on impulse and got the three-package deal... I think I might have gone a bit overboard that time!  Anyway, I have enough grits to last me awhile, don't you think?  You only need a quarter cup to make enough for a generous serving, and they're so creamy!

In between other things I'm playing around with the little houses I made from scraps.  When I was doing these I wasn't thinking in terms of setting or sash colors... I was just doodling.  I didn't want to set them smack together, I was afraid they would lose their individuality somehow.  So then it came down to sashing decisions...

I tried black; my first impression was "oooh, I don't think so!"  On most of the blocks the bottom of the house was made from a dark fabric and the black sort of melted into it.  I tried a few with a white sashing but that completely killed the blocks!  I didn't think I liked the black but I left them on my wall a couple days and you know what?  They didn't look half bad! 

For the bottom row I sashed the top and bottom of the blocks and added a side sash with the corner stones attached to top and bottom.  This is how I'm making rows 2 and 3 -

The sashing goes on the top only, with a sash/top cornerstone combination for the side.

Here's a layout of two rows combined - I think this will be a cute little quilt!

I might have made the sashing a little narrower - they were cut at 2" and finish at 1-1/2" - but I here I have to play my "it's just a quilt" card!

That's all for now, have a great Thursday - sew forth and sew on!

New Costco!

Yesterday was a banner day for our city - we now have a Costco conveniently located within the District of Columbia!  This Costco is sooooo much closer to me than any of the 4 that I sometimes visit.

It opened at 8 am, but Charlene and I got there around 10:00, just as most of the dignitaries - Vice President Biden, Mayor Grey (I think), some of the city council members - were leaving.  But there was still lots of good stuff to hold our attention!



Me... expert food taster!

 There were food tastings and product demos, as you find in all Costcos.  Let's see... I sampled kale salad, chicken salad, rotisserie chicken, cocktail weiners, apple crumb struesel, black forest ham, frozen yogurt, frozen latte, dried coconut, and steak - I passed on the smoked salmon and the olive salad!  From the juicer demo stations I sampled carrot-apple juice and warm tortilla soup.  Interesting thing about the juice... I could taste mostly carrots but Charlene tasted mostly apple.  hmmm

The parking lot and warehouse were jam-packed!  I asked, "Shouldn't these people be working this time of day??" Charlene (top) and I ran into fellow WeeBee members Jocelyn (left) and Gwen (right), who was there with her daughter.

The customer below was very  proud of her custom-made, crocheted earrings and she was excitedly describing another pair she had at home...

... that's all I'm saying...

You're probably thinking a Costco is a Costco is a Costco and you're right!  One thing that makes this one a bit different is their alcohol license; I understand they sell it in Virginia but I shop the Maryland warehouses 99.99% of the time and I've never seen it before, so it interested me!  They had lots and lots of ale, beer, wine, tequila...

Everybody seemed to be in a good mood; the warehouse seemed (to me) to have higher ceilings and brighter lights ... but that could just be the newness of it.  It was a beautiful day for an outing, the weather was a bit cold, but sunny - we had a pleasant morning. 

Oh, another great thing about the location?  It's on the way to my guild meeting, so I can stop in there when I need to pick up refreshments! 

Have a great Friday, sew forth and sew on!

behind the scenes

Three things to be happy about:
(1) solving a riddle
(2) crinkly laugh lines
(3) autumn shopping sprees

It's guild day again - already!  Where did the last month go, the time just flew by.  The saying goes "time flies when you're having fun" but I think it flies whether you're having fun or not! 

But thank goodness quilters know how to have fun, whether we're working on our projects or just doodling around some other way.

Today in our workshop we're having a jelly roll race, yaaaay!  Because I've been on a strict fabric diet lately, rather than buying a jelly roll (or two) I decided to shop my stash and cut my own.  Let's hear it for the stash! 

I needed 40 strips and I'm really pleased (and feeling like a clever girl!) that I was able to pull enough fabrics to get those 40 strips... I'm using blues this time, cutting three strips from each fabric.

I took my strips to the quilting session at the senior center on Thursday and trimmed off those pesky selvedges.  I had to laugh, because I also took my new favorite trail mix and everybody was getting hooked on it!

I got this trail mix from Costco and it's a great snack because it's not sweet ... but it's HOT!  There's a liberal amount of wasabi in the mix!

I trimmed off all the selvedges at the center, so I was able to start sewing the ends together when I got home.  Some people sew their strips at a 45 degree angle which is pretty - but I take the lazy way out and just connect em straight on.

I decided not to worry about matching fabrics or which ones got hooked onto which, because when we do the jelly roll race there won't be any way to control the colors anyway.  So, I just let them fall where they may!

So here's the finished product, rolled on a paper towel roll to keep them from tangling...

let the race begin - wish me luck!

Sew forth and sew on

I swanee...

Why can't I do it up small??

I have a ceiling fan above my bed that's been there for approximately ... I'd say maybe 25-30 years at this point.  I bought the house in 1978 and I believe I had the ceiling fan installed within 5 years after that.  This one can be set to turn on and off with the wall light switch, but I've always had it set for the pull thingie.  Yesterday when I turned it on, you know how the pull thingie pulls out then sorta bounces back into the little hole?  Well, it didn't bounce back; I figured oh well, I'll jiggle it and fix it a bit later. 

Well, this morning I decided to pull it again just to see if it bounced back ... well, it didn't!   What it did was break off at the little hole!

So now my fan is running and running, and I can't turn it off!

An electrician would probably have to send someone out to "take a look at it" and charge me in the neighborhood of $100 just to tell me he can't do it... a handy man could probably figure out how to fix it - the company I use charges $85 an hour - but I think I better cut my losses and just buy a new fan and have it installed.  Sometime between now and November ...

Everybody say it with me - "I SWANEE"!

On a happier note, I went by Costco a couple days ago and I saw this Rachel Ray cooler bag for $9.99 and decided to give it a try for my cold food

It holds just over 10 gallons and has a neat little pocket at the bottom.  Whenever I buy meats and frozen/cold stuff from Costco I either put it in a garbage bag full of ice in the trunk, or I head directly home.  This time I hadn't planned on buying cold stuff because I had other errands to run, but because I got the bag I thought I'd buy meat and give it a whirl.  I had one package of frozen food and two packages of meat that I put in the main zipper part.  My strawberries and Laughing Cow cheese (I love that stuff!) fit neatly in the bottom compartment.

My verdict?  The meats stayed cold!  I give credit for that to the frozen food.  The strawberries and cheese were still cool enough in the bottom compartment so I'm really satisfied with the bag!  It also has pockets on the side where you can put non-food items like magazines and your Kindle.

Well have a great Sunday ... sew forth and sew on til later.

Hello, Monday!

It's a new week already, spring is just around the corner!!

First, my stash report for last week - I'll keep it simple for now:

Fabric purchased last week:  0 yards
Total fabric purchased in 2012:  0 (not counting the bag of scraps in February!)

Fabric used last week:  3 yards
Total fabric used in 2012:  4-1/2 yards

** Although I started my stash report in February, I didn't buy any fabric in January **

I've been working on my traditional block project for June, and I've also made a few string blocks. It's really hard to count strings, you know what I mean? So, I'm doing a "guestimate" and saying 3 yards total used for last week.

I didn't find anything I couldn't live without at the yard sale Saturday, but I did find some nice strawberries at Costco! 

I was thinking it's sorta early for strawberries - even if they're from Florida or California - so I bought these with one eye closed, as it were. I had some for breffus this morning and they were just fine... could have been just a touch sweeter and there were a few underripe green spots, but overall they were very good!

I have this cute little unfinished top that someone gave me that I want to work on; she knew she wouldn't finish it and didn't want to toss it out...

I like these pups!  I measured the pieces for each block and figured out the measurements for the pattern, I know I'd like to make this one from scratch someday. It's approximaely 22 x 27 as is, I was thinking to enlarge it by adding at least one light- or medium-toned border, and another one using this fabric:

I think these playful kitties would look really cute with the serious-looking puppies (are they hounds?). I got this fabric from Hancock Fabrics when their store was closing in December, who knew it'd be the perfect thing for an unknown project! I might even fussy cut some of the kitties and applique them onto a border.  I don't want the finished quilt to look too dark but you almost can't avoid it, given the background color she used for the blocks.

Now, did you notice all the strings attached to my design wall? I have a lint roller and I thought I'd see if it could pick up any of those strings...

Yep, it picked up quite a few but that's just the tip of the iceberg!  I got some of the longer ones off though.

Well today it's errands, a bit of sewing and some basement cleaning time.  I haven't claimed that extra hour of daylight yet, but it's out there!  Have a great Monday everybody; let's see how much we can squeeze out of this week!

Sew forth and sew on...

Goodbye, again

Three things to be happy about:
(1) throwing a dinner party
(2) a parking spot close in
(3) classic board games


During my worker-bee years, one of my coworkers was an avid board game fan - especially Trivial Pursuit - and there'd always be a game going on at lunch time.  Yesterday I went to her retirement luncheon, and it was very nicely done.  

I've always enjoyed Clyde's but I hadn't been to this particular one in years and years!  This one in Rockville, Maryland, has a horsey decorative theme that's very ... horsey.  Saddles, bridles, riding boots, helmets ... what can I say?

I liked this hallway though, I thought it looked very festive.  And I was fascinated at how the waiters could tote several bowls of soup on their arm (seven, at our table) without dropping any. 

Isn't that interesting?  It doesn't take much to make me happy!

This was the second retirement luncheon I've been to since I retired.  It was nice getting to see former coworkers again - some still working and some who took the buyout at the end of December.  But, man oh man - why didn't I wait six months!?  I was ready to get out of there but looking back, I could have stuck it out for $25,000!

After the luncheon I picked up a few items at Costco, since it was a fairly short hop up I-270.  They were selling these orange trees, and I wondered who in the world would buy them in this area, at this time of year??

Is this the time of year to plant fruit trees?

But what really tickled me, and made me take a picture?  This little guy...

You can't see it but he was standing there eating orange after orange off the trees!  When I saw him I grabbed the camera from my purse, but it wouldn't turn on, poop!  By the time I realized my batteries had fallen out and reloaded them, he had stopped eating and had one of the trees in his shopping cart.  Cracked me up!

As you can see, yesterday was one of those laid-back, take it easy days for me.  Didn't get any quilting done, but some days are like that!  By the time I got up and dressed it was close to 9:00; then I thought I'd better put a little something on my tummy since lunch was at 11:30.  THEN as I was finishing my second cuppa coffee at 10:45, I looked at the invitation and realized the luncheon started at 11:00, and the restaurant was something like 30 minutes away!  That was my day, some days are like that - but it's all good...

Sew forth and sew on