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Post by choney2 on May 8, 2017 13:48:48 GMT
Just kicking us off for the week! have a great day!
ginny
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Post by gramma15 on May 8, 2017 20:03:05 GMT
I had a message all typed and hit the wrong button and poof! Hello to all. Welcome to a new week, Thanks for getting us started every week, Ginny. Only "crafting" I've done today so far is working on untangling my yarn while visiting with dh. Pound of Love is a wicked yarn..tangles almost everytime. I can never find the strand to pull and then if you find that, the ball collapses when you get toward the end and becomes a tangled mess either way. Last night I did several rows on the shawl but then found that I had made a mistake about 5 rows earlier which thru the while thing off so had to frog. It's a simple pattern and is written correctly but when I don't pay attention...well it's not good. This is a simple triangle shawl, not as..well don't know what to call it but maybe not as intricate as the one I just made for my 13 yr old grandaughter. This one is for the 5 year old. The pattern was written by the mother of a toddler so it's a small size but can easily be made to anysize at all by just doing more rows. Here's a link in case you want to see it. www.stringwithstyle.com/2014/03/sassy-girl-triangle-shawl.htmlI don't know what I'll make for them next. They all have shawls now except the oldest. I have to find out if she wants one. I started with purses and started with this five yr old and then made one for each of them. The one I made first when STephanie just turned 4 was so cute. It was made with a backpack pattern as a guide and had a kitty face on it. ANd speaking of links, CJ, I went to that site and as, Ginny said, it's so interesting to see the various ways people used the various blocks. I just love that block 7. It's a pretty nice day here. Cooler but very nice. It could stay like this all summer and I'd be happy. Ok I'm going to go finish up the kitchen. Have a wonderful day everyone. |
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Post by cj59 on May 8, 2017 21:35:08 GMT
Hello Crafters - Hope you are all doing well this Monday 
Ginny - How wonderful that you have some of your mother's clothes to make into something.
I only have one dress that was my mother's and I never really thought to do anything with it, maybe I will. I have lots of my father's clothes and plan to cut up all the flannel shirts for a quilt and all the cotton ones for another quilt. I'm not sure about doing anything with his jeans though.
Ruth - That's a cute little show, I bet your granddaughter will love that! It must be so fun to make things for your grandchildren.
Meg and Phyl - Hope you are both doing well and getting in some crafting.
I did some more hand quilting last night on the mini-wholecloth. It's funny but I can't seem to find time to do that during the day so around 8:00-9:00 I feel like picking it up and doing some. I'd much rather work on it in the daylight, I just need to set some time aside to do that.
I'm enjoying the Big Stitch quilting. I've been using a Size 8 Quilting between needle and Sulky 12 weight thread. I used some Quilter's Dream Request batting with this one and the needle goes through that so smoothly.
I had hoped to work on another quilt top today, but the day got away from me and I didn't get to it. Maybe sometime this week.
Take care everyone!
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Post by choney2 on May 8, 2017 23:01:38 GMT
ok, so let's see if I rid the keyboard of the evil sevens! Looks like I did, as last night I rinsed it again with tap water and then distilled water. I can type without repeating 's showing up everywhere. That was a cheap solution.
Ruth the shawl is absolutely adorable- and I will consider making one for DGD. Is it easy to put together? Believe me we have all had that experience wiith making a minor mistake.
DD called....bbl.
Ginny
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Post by gramma15 on May 8, 2017 23:23:19 GMT
I'm taking a little break because I don't know what in the world I'm doing wrong but this shawl isn't going well. I did the first six rows and those are fine.Then you repeat rows 3-6 as many times as needed to get the length you want but on the first repeat of row six I keep getting an extra space on one side and I can't figure out what the problem is so I figured a couple minutes break might help. CJ, Yes I would imagine that working on hand quilting in the day time would be easier but if you don't have time during the day then at least you're getting to it at some points. I'm glad your enjoying it. I don't know what big stitch quilting is or a mini whole cloth so I'm going to look that up. Have you been quilting all your life? Ginny, I'm glad to hear that you got rid of all the 7's but rinsing the keyboard in water? I didn't know you could do that. It must be a separate keyboard from your computer then, right? Mine is a laptop so it wouldn't work for sure to put water on mine but I do remember years ago my dh accidentally spilled iced tea on the keyboard of our desktop and it killed it. I agree that the woman that wrote the pattern did a good job for her little one. The little girl is so cute and looks as though she really loves the shawl.She chose nice colors too. Ok, going to go and try again. AS you know I never give up  |
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Post by choney2 on May 9, 2017 0:37:02 GMT
Ok, here I am back. Never expected DD to call from school, she is trying to negotiate with us when we are coming up to help her move most of her stuff out. Looks like I am taking off next Wednesday (in a week) to do that. Thankfully the school is an hour from here-so this can be done in one day.
Ruth, yes, you will prevail over this pattern! Remember how many tries I made with baby afghans, due to my inability to interpret patterns or poorly written patterns?
You are not alone- and will surely figure something out- a way to get around this flaw. But it's So frustrating, we all know that feeling! on to one of my pet peeves- yarn that will not come out of the skein without driving you insane. I do not get it- some yarns are so easy to work with, others are nightmares. Do not think I have any pound of love here- cannot sympathize with you on that. Keep plugging, most yarns do untangle eventually. Yes, I rinse the keyboard in water. This is an IPAD- which DD #1 and her Dh gave to me years ago as DH hogs the computer with his financial stuff. Then Ds noticed that I was struggling with the keypad on the screen and bought me the wireless keyboard, which I love. I spilled iced tea on it about 2 months ago and was ready to throw it out- it was very messed up. Then I you tubed how to clean it- and f7ound the procedure rinsing with tap water and then distilled water.. After that you let it dry in a warm spot for 24 hours. (Remember to take out the batteries first). Well, it worked! Not sure what happened the other day with all the sevens- but now only an occasional creeps in and for now the problem seems to be solved. All for $1.15- the price of a bottle of distilled water.
CJ-you really do get some serious crafting time in!! I still have to check out the big stitch quilting- perhaps later on in the week I will. So glad you like hand quilting and are finding it so relaxing. Have you ever searched on the Internet for a way to use the fabric from your mom's dress? I am sure if you search you will find something. At least you have one dress to work with- and you are so creative, somehow, it will work out. You could even make a quilt- where the fabric from this dress is the "star"- the other fabrics being merely complimentary to the main fabric.
Last year I made 2 rag quilts - one for DD#1 and the other for DS. They were made from the f7abric from the body of mom's blouses. This quilt, for DD #2, is going to be 9 patch squares, framed in probably navy blue jelly roll fabric. My mom wore very colorful printed blouses, and I am now trying to figure out how to do the 9 patch blocks. My 2 choices are to try to evenly distribute the colors through each block, or to make blocks that are in the same color family. Not sure what I will do yet, it will depend on how many of each color I have.
Monday's are long..off to bed for me.
Good night!
Ginny
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Post by gramma15 on May 9, 2017 17:04:55 GMT
Ginny, I hope you had a good night's sleep. I saw your post last night that you were off to bed but didn't post then because I knew you wouldn't see it
On the shawl, if you plan on making one and in more than one color, just wanted to say that there will be a lot of ends to weave in. It's openwork so you can't jjust crochet over the ends...well unless you make color changes on the row 5"s. I didn't think of that. I'm using four colors and should have thought of the easy way.
I did finally find where I went wrong on this. I need to just learn to read the pattern while doing it not think I already know how rows start and end. I has leaving stitches off the ends of rows 5 and 6. Now I'm back on track so if I don't accidentally skp stitches I'll do ok
I have to do a little cooking today but I really just want to work on this shawl all day.Guess I'll just get the food cooked, kitchen cleaned again then crochet the rest of the day...after a little exercise that is.
I hope all of you have a chance to do a little crafting today if you feels as though you want to do some. Otherwise enjoy the day in whatever pursuits you want to follow.
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Post by choney2 on May 9, 2017 17:20:36 GMT
Good afternoon Ruth and all who follow! I'm texting using Siri because my keyboard is back to making a bunch of sevens again and I have to go back to work soon. Ruth leave it to you to figure out what was wrong with the pattern! It does stink that you've got all those ends to weave in and I wish there was some easy way to do it. But thanks so much for the heads up on how to avoid putting so many loose ends in . What are you planning on cooking today? And I hope you got some activity in. Are you still walking a little bit every day? I got a few minutes of gardening in. When errand to the post office. And got my package mailed to our daughter for finals. Just going to straighten up now and then head back to work. Oh I did get some more squares cut out for the quilt. Little by little I will get it done. Have a great day! Ginny
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Post by gramma15 on May 9, 2017 19:09:18 GMT
Ginny, you sure get a lot done in a day and with working too! I forgot how it was to juggle other things along with work after almost 14 years of retirement. And you got quilt squares cut too! Have you taken quilting lessons or did you learn it on your own? I didn't realize how much people use patterns for quilting or kits. That sure would make it easier for me who is not creative enough to do it on my own...mix colors, patterns, etc.
As for cooking,, I have beef stew simmering and also a beef barley soup which will probably end up being more of a beef barley stew. Barley soaks up a lot of liquid so it tends to end up being more than you thought it would be when putting the barley in.Dh likes it that way though so that's fine. I can't eat barley so it's all for him so I tried to make a smaller pot but you'd think I had had 10 kids the way I cook. It always ends up being enough for a whole family. Dh loves it though because he loves leftovers.And I do make him another meal most days but he mostly prefers to just eat the leftovers much of the time.Stews and soups always taste better the next day anyway.
Now I'm going to go make a beef corn tortilla casserole for me. dh took a lot of beef out of the freezer so the soup and stew are very meaty so I'm going to use a few pieces in my casserole just so that there's not too much meat in the soup and stew. I don't actually care much for beef except a good steak now and then. Luckily it's going to be a small casserole so that it doesn't last so long that it spoils. I have finally learned to control portion sizes so I don't eat a lot at a time now.
I guess that CJ is busy crafting, Meg might be reading, and Phyl may be out "bummin" with Delona...
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Post by megk31 on May 9, 2017 21:22:27 GMT
Hello everyone.
Ginny how did you guess I have been reading, not an audio book so I have not been crafting. This morning I spent some time looking at patterns and that has inspired me to get busy. Yesterday was a busy day and I did not have much computer time. My keyboard sticks and that is because Devin will eat there when he is on the computer and no matter how many times I tell him to eat at the table he still does it if he thinks he can get away with it. Typical kid. Will you have your DD home for the summer?
Ruth, I looked at the shawl pattern and it is very nice. What colors are you going to use? I don't know any little girls or I would be tempted to crochet one. I use a lot of Pound of Love and I don't have much trouble with it. I use it a lot for the b/blankets I make and I am making one right now.
I still haven't finished the afghan I just have to finish the border and wash it. I wish I had a good way to deal with the yarn ends. I may try crocheting them in next time. I also need to learn how to make better borders. Why don't you ladies move a little closer to me so that you could teach me. I did take a class one time to learn how to make borders and it was a waste of my money. I am sure one of my Knit Wit friends will help me.
cj, I see you are keeping busy. have a great day. |
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Post by cj59 on May 9, 2017 23:15:21 GMT
Hello Crafters - Hope you are all doing well today Ruth - Your soup/stew sounds so good. I love barley. I have a recipe for a soup that uses barley and lots of fresh vegetables. I haven't made that in awhile, so maybe I will soon. Big Stitch quilting is hand quilting using bigger stitches - so you use a larger needle and thicker thread. Here's a link to some information on it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF11dFbH8KI - video www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBGs1qBHa-4 - video blog.maryquilts.com/big-stitch/ - blog post The mini-medallion quilt top that I bought has the design pre-printed on it and all you have to do is stitch over the lines, it's a good way to practice hand quilting. I'm working on the center first and then I work on the straight lines. I'm using a medium/dark blue thread on this since the cloth is a light blue. Here's a link to what I bought: quiltingstencils.com/amish-medallion-blue-16-5/Ginny - That's great that you were able to salvadge that keyboard. How nice that you have/will have those memory quilts of your family members. I'll have to think about doing something with my mother's dress. I'm sure it's polyester so I would have to stabilize it. Meg - I hope you found a project to work on. I'm sure some of your KnitWit friends can help you with borders Phyl - Hope you are doing well today. I went out and did some shopping today, so didn't get to any quilting. I did do some handing stitching on the binding I've been working on. I hope to finish that tonight so I can get back to doing some more of the Big Stitch hand quilting on the mini-medallion. This binding is going much smoother since I cut the strips at 2 1/4 inches. I'm going to try the 2 1/2 inches too and see which I like best. Trying to stitch that binding that was only 2 inches was painful! I also bought some fresh strawberries and came home and made a small amount of fresh strawberry jam. I'm eating on some toasted pieces of my homemade bread that I had frozen - so good! Take care everyone! |
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Post by gramma15 on May 10, 2017 0:12:07 GMT
CJ and Meg, it's great to see you both. Meg, my dgd wanted pink, purple and yellow. So I'm going those plus white. I used a pastel pink at first and now it looks washed out and grayish since I added the other colors but I'm not taking it out way back to there. Now I'm using the pound of love called bubble gum and it looks better. I haven't added any yellow yet. I don't know how that's going to look so I may just use it for one row of the border. Meg, I had trouble with borders for years and now they do seem to be going ok. I'd love to live near you. I could teach you the things you don't feel comfortable with on crochet and you could teach me more about knitting.
CJ than you for the explanation of the big stitch quilting. I did kind of guess that it would be sewing using a bigger stitch and thank you for all the links also. I love looking things up. It's amazing to me still all the things you can find out online. That strawberry jam sounds really good and of course I already know that your bread sound good too. Enjoy. Jams and jellies are something I've never made. I'm sure they taste way better than the store bought but we don't use much in the way of jams or jellies. I think that strawberry/rhubarb preserves would be fantastic on biscuits. Maybe I should try making some.
Now we're just missing our Phyl. Phyl, I hope you're having a good day.
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Post by choney2 on May 10, 2017 1:00:49 GMT
good evening! Here I am , back on the iPad as the darn keyboard went psychotic again!
Meg, gee, just for one week, wouldn't it be wonderful if we all lived close by.......we would actually get to see how very busy Phyl is, you could teach me how to knit, Ruth could give me tips on crochetting and I could lean big stitch quilting from CJ! But we do have each other here online, and I wish I could help you with the border on the v stitch. There are many different borders you can use, some are easier than others. Crochetting the ends in ( using a smaller hook) works well and gets the job done.
CJ, thanks for the videos on big stitch. How cool, and it makes me rethink some of the fabrics I have that I was going to give away or donate. I sort of kind off followed what you are doing (with the medallion) years ago, when I took a pre printed quilted look pillow top and hand stitched over it to look quilted. It came out well enough. Enjoy that fresh jam! We make grape jelly (when the grape crop is good) and the house smells so good when we make it!
Ruth, I love barley and hope that Dh enjoyed it! The tortilla casserole sounds yummy also.....like you I double cook a lot, Dh and I have different tastes in food.
About 5 years ago, I took a class at Joanns that had me make a quilted pillow with echo stitch quilting. I learned how to rotary cut and keep the seam allowances then. Then, using fabrics that a friend gave me, I made the pink and black double Irish chain quilt, from the directions a friend gave me. Those directions are super easy to follow, she uses a non traditional binding method, but I am very happy with the quilt. After that, DSIL became ill, and I took ok the split rail quilt pictured. Rag quilts are easy, DD helped me learn that. Which brings me to today. I have learned a TON from a woman I am also in daily contact with, who is basically a professional quilter. She inspires me and answers all my dumb questions!
I am one tired puppy. Hope Phyl had a great day....have a blessed night all!
Ginny
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Post by gramma15 on May 10, 2017 6:50:27 GMT
Ginny, I thought I would post a message again for one last time tonight so that you would have something to read in the morning  . I hope you got rested. Will today be as busy as the other days? I was wondering, like Meg, if your dd is coming home for the summer since you said you were taking off next Wed to get her things. I'm sure it will be nice to have her home if so. The shawl is coming along nicely now that I found what I was doing wrong. I have to decide what to do next but I think it will be one more baby blanket for dgd's expected baby and I might start some crocheted bracelets I saw patterns for. That way I'll have little things besides the hats to pick up...oh and I have the knitted scarf for dh to pick up too. I'm off to bed now myself so will see all of you some time tomorrow |
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Post by choney2 on May 10, 2017 9:44:33 GMT
Good morning!
Ruth , it's always nice to hAve your next projects lined up. Are you going to make the flower crocheted bracelets? I forget, Dgd is exp eating a boy or girl? Do you make babyafghans in traditional colors or some of the pretty less common color schemes?
Thanks for giving me something to read this am!
Last night DD stopped in with the grand kids. At the ages of 4 and 2 life is very silly😀. Slept well last night. Today is a normal day....I hope to get a little down time.
Have a great morning!
Ginny
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. I hope you got rested. Will today be as busy as the other days? I was wondering, like Meg, if your dd is coming home for the summer since you said you were taking off next Wed to get her things. I'm sure it will be nice to have her home if so.