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Post by choney2 on Jan 11, 2021 12:10:59 GMT
Good morning and Happy Monday!
All crafters are welcome here as we discuss crafting, life and our weight loss journey. Crafting includes actual hands on crafting, such as crochetting, knitting, sewing, quilting, needlepoint, painting, jewelry making, etc.....plus reading craft catalogs, craft blogs, watching craft you tubes or other crafting videos, chatting here about crafting,chatting with another person about crafting, reading craft emails, thinking about crafting, organizing crafting supplies, going into craft stores or the craft aisle in a store , attending craft fairs,or any other activity that inspires or directs your mind toward a crafting activity- even visiting us here to join in our posts!! There are plenty of days in which the closest we get to crafting is a visit here, so even if you have no time to craft, we would love to hear from you.
We welcome newcomers to our friendly discussion! So glad you are here!! Please feel free to stop in and say hello!!
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Post by choney2 on Jan 11, 2021 12:26:49 GMT
Good morning all- I am watching a beautiful sunrise...got some clouds preventing the actual view of it, but its so pretty to see the colors of the sunrise on the clouds.
Ruth, as always, you find great gift ideas to make for your grandkids. Think the tote bag and pocket shawl will be used and appreciated...will you be mailing those for the February and March birthdays? I agree its nice to see what others are doing and find inspiration in that. Some directions and youtubes are great, and others struggle explaining what they do. (Which is why I tend to like the missouri star youtubes that for the most part do a good job showing and explaining what they are trying to teach). I am sure Dh loved those cookies you made- what cookies are his favorites? Yes, the Bills will now be playing the Browns in football..I will be rooting for the Bills, in as much as I do not like either team all that much I would rather see the Bills win. But both teams have not made it to the playoffs for a long long time, so its exciting for fans of both.
Think I will break out the falling charms quilt and see what I have to do to get back into that again. I do know I have several rows assembled and hanging as long strips in the closet, think the rest of the rows are in plastic bags, labeled.
Found some cute ornaments online yesterday (thinking if I order Christmas ornaments to make now, it gets me out of a pickle for last minute gifts later). Just gotta find something that gets good reviews before I place the order. Too many times I have seen nice looking crafts online only to find out that the directions are awful and I cannot complete the project.
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Post by cj59 on Jan 11, 2021 19:07:41 GMT
Hello  Ruth - Hope you enjoying your new projects and enjoyed the cookies. I do enjoy looking at quilting and other needlecrafts online as much I enjoy making them Ginny - I'm glad you were able to finish the quilt and hope that you can start working on the Falling Charms quilt. Hope you can find that project you are looking for for Christmas gifts. Phyl and Sue - Hope you are doing well. It's cloudy and kind of cold here today, but I'm happy not to have rain or snow. The tree company is coming this week to cut down those trees that were concerning my neighbor and I'm also getting them to take the trunk of the other tree that the guy in December didn't finish doing. I'll just be glad when that is all done. I made the binding for one of the quilts I quilted this weekend (it's a table runner), so I hope to try putting it on this week. I might have to sew it to the front and pull to the back since I'm using the same fabric in the binding as in the final border. I'm not sure how that would look with the binding pulled to the front. I have plenty others to practice that way. I also cut up my white scraps into 1.5 and 2.5 inch strips and then left the larger pieces whole. Now I need to finish cutting some of the pink scraps into those same size strips and then I can work on some things - maybe some 4 patch blocks. If I keep working with the color scraps each month this year, then at least it will all be organized by the end of the year. I also made a block for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge in pink and white. The pattern is called Circle of Squares and I had seen it done by several quilters last year and wanted to try it. It's pretty easy and I'm happy with how it turned out.  I also picked out some fabrics to participate in the Scrap Mystery quilt along that started last Friday. I'm just going to try the 36x36 quilt. The black fabric will be the background and this is the first time I've made a quilt with a dark background, so I'm looking forward to it. Then the yellow, orange and red (which is darker than it looks here) with be for the blocks. I may have to add in some lighter yellow, oranges and red depending on how the pattern goes.  Hope you all have a good day |
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Post by Ruth on Jan 11, 2021 19:40:14 GMT
Thank you Ginny and CJ
Ginny, did you get those ornaments done that you ordered from Herrschnerrs in 2019? I don't remember you saying that you did. But the ones you've found now on line must be very nice because you have good taste. Did you find a pattern for the next baby quilt you're making?
CJ, I love that pink and white circle of squares. I've never heard of it but it is really nice! And I love your choice of fabrics for that other q built. Yes I would think that you probably will end up putting in some lighter colors also even for small highlights. I love seeing the things you make.
While looking online instead of crocheting, I found a great coaster pattern I'm going to make. It's easy and will be great for small gifts or to make sets by adding some tea or hot chocolate or something like that and maybe even a couple cups if a larger gift is needed and then the mug cozies to go with the cups.
As I worked on the tote bag I realized that I don't really like it too much but I think I'll keep going on it because it will be useful for the dgd to carry her things to church and to the homeschool co op they attend.And yes, at some point I'll be mailing the gifts for the two dgds and ddil then won't have anything to mail until August.It will be nice to not have time constraints looming over me for awhile.
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Post by choney2 on Jan 12, 2021 0:42:40 GMT
Love the circle of squares CJ!!! Think the crispness of the white and pink is stunning- and I do not blame you for being happy with how it turned out. It looks great. Just love those tone on tone fabrics.... The way I was taught was actually what you will be doing, pulling the quilt binding from the front to the back (unlike what Jenny did on the MSQ video). Think that the real serious quilters do it that way- and hand sew to the back. I did mine the other way (bringing it to the front) so that it would be easier to machine stitch and use a decorative stitch- as its a baby quilt which will be laundered a lot. Glad you have a plan for the year to organize your fabrics....sounds good to me.
Ruth, who will you be making coasters for? Sounds like a great project and as you said with adding some mugs or tea or hot chocolate...what a lovely gift. Why are you not happy with the tote bag? totally agree it would be nice to just be able to work on projects and not be concerned as much with deadlines. Sometimes deadlines are nice to motivate, but to always have one hanging over your head is stressful. Sometimes its just nice to create, because....Yes I got those ornament kits, which I ended up giving to DSIL in Florida who made them for my Dds. She was looking for a project to do...and was happy to make the kits.
Got a few minutes organizing done on the falling charms and should be working with the machine tomorrow.
Well, had a little bit of excitement.... Sweet Tea has been acting funny at times. I know what a cat acts like when they sense a mouse- and surprise, surprise, there is a mouse in my bathroom!!! I cannot pick Sweet Tea up yet (she does not like to be picked up) so I have a trap set and closed the door with the mouse in there. Set another trap in the bathroom where she was first acting suspicious....my older cat is just that- old.....and she sleeps a lot. Nice that little Sweet tea is a good mouser.... and a really cute little cat at that.
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Post by choney2 on Jan 12, 2021 3:38:07 GMT
A rather silly end to the mouse saga. I did go out and get 2 new mouse traps....proudly set them both (one in the bathroom and the other in the kitchen). Of course i petted my little furry mouse trap and told her what a good girl she is. Well, my bathroom is tiny and I figured that I should check the trap after an hour(not many places for a mouse to hide) No mouse in the trap. Then I decided to use the bathroom....and well, the mouse had obviously gotten scared, fell in the toilet and drowned! I laughed myself silly.....called for Ds....neither of us could believe the silly ness of it all.
Thankfully the litter box is still in my bathroom (remember from the week when the kitten was primarily in my bedroom)- and so is the littler scooper. Ds used the scooper to remove the mouse and fling it out the window. What a silly story for sure.
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Post by gramma14 on Jan 12, 2021 8:25:52 GMT
That is so funny!! How in the world did the mouse get into the toilet though. That's one thing that's never happened to us...having a mouse in the toilet but living in an area like this with open fields around we've sure had plenty of mouse encounters. We mostly use glue traps which most people probably think is cruel. Since we have no pets we also use mouse poison. We haven't seen very many lately. Guess since there have been so many warmer days between the cold days, they stay out in the field more. They can do a lot of damage. We found that mice or a mouse had chewed the wires behind out dishwasher.
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Post by choney2 on Jan 12, 2021 11:48:37 GMT
Now that I slept well knowing that the ferocious mouse is gone....ha ha ha
As I mentioned, this “master bathroom” is tiny. Believe me, however, when we moved to this house from our really small 2 bedroom cape, I thought I was staying in a hotel because I had a master bathroom!!! (My parents house had no master bath). Its got room for a stall shower, toilet and I think an 18 inch pedestal sink. Sandwiched between the sink is a small basket to store extra towels.... I figure that the little mouse, with nowhere to go, climbed on the basket which would allow an easy step onto the toilet.. the rest is history. Now the kitten thinks the mouse traps are something to play with....well at least I now know she can catch mice.
If you have a mouse - well ya gotta use what you must to eliminate them from your home. They can do a ton of damage. My friend had a mouse that got into her car engine and chewed all the wires., and then it died in the engine. (Car smelled awful for a few weeks). I seem to remember we also had a mouse eat car wires years ago....the 23 year old cat that I just lost was an excellent mouser/hunter. Of course he was well fed, so he hunted because he was a cat and that is what cats do- but in his day he could catch several mice/chipmunks a day.
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Post by Ruth on Jan 12, 2021 19:34:08 GMT
Good morning all. It's barely still morning here and the sun just came out. Wind is really blasting today which I'm beginning to really hate.
My friendly and helpful neighbor and his wife have several cats. The number varies because some are very old. Anyway we have a lot of not only mice around this area but even more 13 stripe ground squirrels and a lot of rabbits. Their cats go ourside and spend their time catching all these and are not happy with just catching them but they take them home as gifts for the neighbor. I don't know how many cats my dd has now but they would also catch things and bring them home but mostly birds...which in my opinion is terrible..but, as you said, cats are hunters so that's what they're going to do is hunt.
Ginny, your bathroom sounds like it's even smaller than mine. Mine has room for a tub but nowhere, really to sit a basket or a laundry hamper. The other bathroom is a bit larger and seems larger than it is because it's also the laundry room. I don't know how my friend managed with 10 children and one bathroom and my parents had six of us and one bathroom.
Well the pattern I was using for the tote bag really didn't work with the yarn I used so I tore it out. The picture of it with the pattern was really nice but she used a different cotton than I have. I did end up making a new earwarmer that I found a pattern for. I love the look of that stitch and will use it in the tote bag.I actually made two earwarmers and most of a third one.
Got some things to do around the house today then it will be back to crocheting I hope
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Post by choney2 on Jan 13, 2021 0:36:53 GMT
Ruth, sounds like you were busy crocheting....but regretfully also doing some ripping out. I sure hope that this new pattern is working out for you and that you like the stitch. Is that cotton easy to tear out? Cannot stand when it’s tough to tear out or it messes up the yarn when you have a to take it out.
My 23 year old cat also caught some birds. I put a bell on his collar as a way of warning the birds...and that did work a bit. In that respect, I am glad he is gone- I no longer have to worry about worms, ticks or all the other joys of an outside cat. Yes, my bathroom is tiny. The basket sits between the toilet and the sink pedestal, my guess is its 24 inches of floor space and completely fills in that space. Its a tiny bathroom- but I am very thankful to have one.
Got 5 rows put together of the falling charms quilt. So far, it seems to be turning out well enough. I went to Janes house for awhile, got some nice ideas on organizing my sewing room from her.
Have a good night all
G
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Post by gramma14 on Jan 13, 2021 4:24:49 GMT
Could you have Jane come over and give me hints? She would probably gasp in horror if she saw my craft room. I truly have way too much yarn but again, I don't end up having enough of what I need for a particular project. For example, I went in to get some different color cotton yarn and found that the ones I liked had only one or two skeins and I need at least four for this tote bag. I also wish I had some different cotton such as the I Love This Cotton sold by HL.I'd even take the 24/7 yarn from Lion but don't feel that I can justify buying more yarn since I have so much. But wait (as they say in those sales pitches on tv) I have that $50 gift card from Michaels that I bought because you got 5 or 10 dollars off. I have to go there and see what kind of cotton they offer.Does anyone know and know how it is? Ginny, I'm glad that you were able to get some of the rows done on the Falling Charms.You say it's turning out "well enough". Why do we crafters always underestimate ourselves.I know it's going to be beautiful.
The new pattern of stitches that I borrowed from the earwarmer pattern to use on this tote bag is working out great. I can see myself using it for many different things. The stitch is a crossed half double crochet in which you cross the stitch from the back instead of the usual over the front way of doing it. It makes a great pattern. You use a plain hdc stitch on alternating rows so that you're doing the crossed stitch on the wrong side which shows up and that great pattern on the right side.
Get a good rest everyone and I'll see you all tomorrow
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Post by cj59 on Jan 13, 2021 19:54:44 GMT
Hello Phyl - Hope you are well.
Ginny - I'm glad you were able to start your Falling Charms quilt, what colors/line of fabrics are you using? Ruth - I'm glad the new pattern for the warmer is working out. I hope you can use your Michael's gift card. I wasn't sure if you were asking we'd ever used one online? I haven't ever done that but I'm sure it's pretty easy. It's a pretty sunny and kind of mild day here, very nice weather. The tree company came today and cut down all the trees and did a good job. I was anxious while they were here, but I'm happy with how it looks now. One less thing to worry about  I spent a few hours yesterday looking at quilt patterns and websites and reading blogs. It started with just seeing a picture I liked of a quilt and then looking at other quilts in that design, then watching videos of the quilt block, then going websites where people had made them and looking at their site - it's amazing how quickly times goes by doing that The pattern I liked was Delectable Mountains and I saw several shortcut ways to make the block that I'm going to try. I like doing a test block first and if I like the method I have several pre-cuts that would work for this. I'd sure like to use up some of my pre-cuts. Here's the first video I watched to make this block (MSQC has a video too called Grand Aventures quilt): www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U5JmcDM8e4I also saw a pattern that someone had done a quilt along and used the Stonehenge Gradations fabrics. I bought a bunch of those (layer cakes and charm packs) several years ago and have been looking for a good pattern ever since, so I might try this one: www.inquiringquilter.com/questions/2016/5/18/week-9-stepping-stones-quilt-along-show-it-off-party - scroll way down to the picture of one done in blues and that is the type of fabric I have. I did do some crocheting last night. I have 4 crochet projects that are about half done and I sure would like to finish them. This was is an afghan using Bernat Blanket yarn. That yard sure is thick and warm. I'm hoping I can get back in my sewing room tomorrow since and work on some things. Hope you are getting to do some crafting too. Take care |
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Post by choney2 on Jan 13, 2021 21:33:06 GMT
Ruth, well yarn is different from fabric....I do remember my mom had some plastic shirt boxes think they are about 8. Inches deep- that she used for different color yarns. You know, a whole box of yellow, another for blue...etc...easy to see in and see what you have. Michaels has lots of craft organizing stuff on sale right now, so perhaps they have good ideas there. I am going to try to pick up some smaller bins when I go out this weekend. Or perhaps order from Walmart online. Right now I have two large bins of fabric- but I cannot see in them what is there. Organizing by color (inside each color is in a large zip lock bag) is impossible to see in these large bins. Gotta do a better job of that. The only cotton yarn I know that Michales sells is Sugar and Cream (is that the name?). Wish I could be more helpful
CJ- glad those trees are trimmed and now you can rest assured that its been done well and that your neighbor cannot complain. Yes we can spend an eternity looking at patterns and fabrics and get nothing done. Ha ha ha. Aw, its all fun.. The delectable mountains looks cool- and easy to make too!!! Sure sounds like you have a lot of fabric on hand...I am curious to see what color scheme you come up with for that quilt- which would even be pretty in pastels. Yes that bernat blanket yarn is so thick- works up quickly. And its nice and relaxing for a winter evening.... The fabric I am using for the falling charms is buggy barn basics (think that is the name) by Henry Glass. I am using an off white moda fabric for the surrounding squares, and found a really pretty rust print at Hobby lobby for
the border. The back will be HL also, a creamy yellow/tan fabric - double width so I do not have to seam it. I am considering sending it out to have it long armed.
FINALLY heard from my niece and she will take the baby quilt now. So tonight I will trim all the loose threads and pack it up into a box. My new cutting board came from Walmart today....so far, that is all the crafting I have gotten done.
Gotta make dinner.
G
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Post by choney2 on Jan 14, 2021 0:20:41 GMT
Just sent both Ruth and CJ a really nice recipe I made tonight for the first time. Its called One pan chicken rice curry- mild curry flavor - super easy to modify to accommodate more or less servings. I used leftover chinese food rice...and even my son liked it.
Gonna go clip threads on the baby quilt
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Post by gramma14 on Jan 14, 2021 0:47:24 GMT
CJ I love that quilt. The way he starts and makes his blocks is the way they taught us in the one series of quilt classes I went to. I think I could make this. I probably never will but I do think that I could. Of course looking at that led me to watch other youtubes about quilting and I found a couple great ones for simple potholders. That and those 10 minute table runners are probably all the quilting I'll ever do but I can see those potholders being a great gift for anyone at all. Who doesn't need potholders. I have some nice coffee themed fabric I got at HL that would be great for that. Now I have to go and look at the other video youj posted the link for
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