Crafters July 26 through August 1

Yes it does seem like a good day to stay indoors. HOpefully you will have a lot of time for quilting or whatever else you want to do inside.

It's hot here too and this whole week is going to be hot till Friday then we'll have a whole week of lower temp days.

I spent all day yesterday trying to figure out what these two videos are trying to show about this blanket stitch. They both say to repeat rows 1-4. Well how in the world do you repeat the row that's where you crochet into the chain. So only after finally reading about 80 comments I found where she actually answered one of the people who asked that very question. Then she said "well repeat it but don't skip chains" Well of course there aren't any chains so what did she mean. So I went back and tried what I thought would work and I think that it might work. We'll see as I get more rows done. I was about to give up on it but you know how stubborn I am.

Hello Everyone

Phyl - I'm sorry to hear you are not feeling well, that bloated feeling is so uncomfortable. I hope you can find something to help with that.

Ruth - Hope that pattern works out.

Ginny - Hope you were able to get some quilting done and enjoyed watching your DGS.

Sue - Hope you are doing well.

It's hot and humid here too, so I guess it's pretty much that way all over the country. I only go outside to get the mail when it's like this.

I finished quilting 3 tops this morning and the other one I thought I'd try free motion on has now become a practice piece after I basically destroyed it trying to free motion quilt

I've tried free motion quilting several times now, and I know it takes a lot of practice, but I just don't like it and I think I need to move on and not try to quilt any of my tops like that. I'm happy with straight line quilting, especially on the diagonal, so I'll just keep doing that.

I also have 2 smallish table toppers and I think I'm going to quilt them on my regular machine. One of them I'm going to try a decorative stitch and the other I just need to echo quilt around some stars.

I pulled 3 more tops and I think I'll get them sandwiched and go ahead and quilt them while I have the machine out and I'm in the quilting mode. That will leave me 8 quilt tops that I think I can quilt myself. But I may re-evaluate them. Many tops I've done will just look better with a pretty all over design done on a longarm (in my opinion).

Take care everyone

Phyl, yes you read it here that it looked to Ginny and I from looking online that Meg had passed away. It was in Jan 2020. Her daughter did have  what people used to call mental retardation but I think, from what Meg said, that she also had some physical problems especially as she got older.

Good morning!
Sorry I missed getting back here yesterday. Babysat for 2 hours last night and then just was trying to clean up from the little ones and relax afterward.

my mom lived in what would absolutely be called a metropolitan area for a major city. In her final years (hard to believe I am speaking about 8 years ago as she is gone 6 years) I was placing food orders for her from my computer. (We have the same food store chain, so using their software was easy). And because she was slowing down a bit, we paid to have the groceries delivered. At that time, it was actually reasonable. Anyway, at least for this particular chain they give the online shopper a good opportunity to tell the store shopper how you want your produce. My mom was SUPER picky about her produce and i had to very very carefully word what color bananas she wanted and how ripe her peaches should be…. they did an amazing job! As a matter of fact once while heading down to visit mom, I stopped in that store to thank them for the outstanding service they provided for her. I know a shopper in the same store in my town and she said its insane the amount of training that they get to select produce. That being said, this was all before the pandemic. Knowing that covid is not spread on surfaces I am not concerned about getting sick from produce handled by store staff (who have to stock the produce bins anyway). Its hard to get good produce sometimes in more remote areas though. When we vacationed upstate a few years ago, I remember the produce in that small food store (also probably not on a direct trucking route) was not specacular.

Phyl- so sorry that you felt so bloated….it sure does sound like you made very good choices in your food selections. Hope that you are feeling better soon. Dietary changes can take a few days to really make a difference as the body adjusts to the lack of foods that are causing trouble. It’s encouraging that your medical team is working hard to get good answers for you, and I also hope that the CT scan is purely precautionary and finds nothing wrong.

Ruth, well leave it to you to get to the bottom of the pattern issue. Think the pattern designer probably intended for a repeat of the rows after the chain, but wow that is sort of rude that the writer did not address it. A woman I used to work with many years ago was actually a pattern tester for a small local yarn shop. Joan (my friends name) could crochet in her sleep…..taking on difficult patterns….rather like you. Her work was magnificent, as I am sure yours is. You get a lot of credit for getting to the bottom of the problem. Thanks. And yes, I remember that potato chips are safe for those who are gluten sensitive. Its rather scarey to learn how many foods have gluten in them if you purchase processed foods.

CJ- I am sure you did not wreck that one quilt with your free motion attempts….but I will say it takes a ton of practice to get comfortable with it. That being said you do such a nice job with your diagonal quilting and stitching in the ditch, that if free motion does not make you happy or work, then you have better alternatives for you. Totally agree with you that some quilts/designs look better with an all over quilted design and that long arming is the best way to go. Think the starlite quilt (which I hope to begin in the fall) I will send to missouri to have quilted. They did such a lovely job on the baby quilt.

So the quilt for Tea (kitten) is sandwiched and folded on the table. Its not the best quilt in the world but I am happy with it. think I might free motion it in my random stipple, which I am comfortable with. I entertained a diagonal quilt design (Like CJ) but am more comfortable with random stipple and will probably do that. Jane and I are heading to a quilt shop later to look for fabric for her DD’s baby quilt. Nice thing to do on a hot day.

Yes, I think Meg’s daughter had both physical and mental disabilities. I remember being concerned about Meg being able to handle her daughter by herself but I am sure she knew what Janet needed to remain stable. I am sure Meg is missed by her family, just as we miss her here.

gotta try to get my walk in before the heat comes.
Ginny

I sure did get my walk in this am….and it was just starting to heat up. Ruth, congrats on getting 11 inches of blanket done! How many rows is that and how long did that take to do? Quite an accomplishment…..those additional 46 rows will go quickly, I hope. 100 degrees is so very hot. Drink lots of water and stay inside. Its absolutely not healthy for you or Dh to be outside!!!

At my local store, one of my co workers also works as a shopper (between morning and afternoon bus route). As I used to always see her in produce, I once commented about that. She told me that she became the “expert” in produce so she pulls produce for all the orders that morning. Makes sense if she is good at it, for sure.

Had to say goodbye to my 21 year old cat this am. Without boring you with details, it was time and i did not want to see her get any weak or become unable to care for herself (which seemed inevitable). 21 years is a long time, she was a good friend and her quirky personality was appreciated by all of us (when all of us including my daughters and husband) lived here. I was welcomed back home after that sad trip to the vet by DD#2’s cat, who I am cat sitting for for another day…..so nice to be greeted by a healthy animal. I know it sounds soon but I made an appointment to go to the shelter tomorrow and see if they have a nice cat who might fit into my household.

Went with Jane to check out 2 “new” to us, quilt shops. Jane got fabric at the one, they had some very different fabrics, a nice variety. The other shop sells mostly very pricey machines, including long armers. Nice to know that that shop is there should I ever want to upgrade my machine (which I really doubt I will ever want to do!).

Ginny