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Post by choney2 on Sept 5, 2022 10:25:11 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 Sept 5, 2022 10:42:18 GMT
Happy Labor Day!
CJ- thanks for posting the pictures. Is the upper photo the extra pieces of the Oh Say can you See quilt? A simple red-white- blue, I like how the center of the stars appears to be two different whites…very pretty. Hope that you are able to stay comfortable, temps in the 80’s is still a bit warm for comfort in ones home.
Ruth- how sweet that you have inspired your DGD to crochet! Sounds like she is a natural at it, takes after you!!! At her age my DDs were both attempting to crochet, but I know whatever they made was probably misshapen. But its a great age to start.
Around 8:30 last night the humidity was oppressive….so I put the AC on. I did get about halfway through month 6 of my PMQ. That month seems to be going together pretty easily. They will be shipping month 8 in a day or so, but thankfully it takes only a little bit of time to put a block together. My machine ran great- think I can actually notice a subtle difference in how it runs.
Hard to believe the school year starts tomorrow….got some housework to get done today and other than that am hoping for a quiet day.
Ginny
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Post by choney2 on Sept 5, 2022 22:06:35 GMT
A bit of a busy day….ran to Lowes to pick up a few items to help put the backyard back together. I am in for 2 days of rain, so I wanted to get that errand done before bad weather set in. I did pretty much finish my housework ( I am always shocked at how much the vacuum picks up!) and got a bit more straightening up done. The good news is I got the two month 6 PMQ blocks done. Now I can move on to the month 7 block. Will probably do that Wednesday. I am very glad I got the blocks done.
I hope I can sleep well tonight. Did not sleep well at all last night and I am tired.
Ginny
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Post by cj59 on Sept 5, 2022 22:52:13 GMT
Hello Everyone - Hope you are all doing well today  Ginny - I'm glad you were able to finish some of your PMQ blocks and hope you can get the others done this week. I also hope you don't have any problems from the rain and that you can get some rest tonight. It was cloudy here today and in the low 80s, so not too bad. I haven't been outside since Saturday though  I love it when I don't have to get all that junk mail out of my mailbox. I went through a bunch of fabrics this morning - probably looked at over 100 different ones and picked out two grouping choices for the Hometown Charms quilt along. One group had deep red, golds and green and the other one is pinks and browns. I really want to work with some different colors than I've been using for several months so I might go with the pinks and browns. I would really like to pick some bright color fabrics, but I'm feeling kind of "blah" and just don't have the energy to work with them, so maybe sticking to the pinks and browns will be better. I guess I'll try a few blocks and see how it goes. I did find a few more fabric groupings to put together while I was looking at my fabrics this morning. I could probably make about 20 of the 3 yard quilts at this point. Hopefully one day I can get to some of them. I see that the Fat Quarter Shop is having a Christmas quilt along that only runs for 5 weeks and starts next Tuesday. It's a small quilt, so I might think about trying it. Sometimes their patterns have a lot of small pieces, so I'll have to see. At least I can save the patterns when they come out. blog.fatquartershop.com/christmastime-quilt-and-stitch-along/Take care |
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Post by Ruth on Sept 6, 2022 0:15:28 GMT
Ginny, it sounds like you got a lot accomplished today. I'm glad you were able to get those blocks done. Now on the #7 set.I had housework to do also but it was just too hot so I'm saving what I can until Saturday when we're to have a high of 65. I don't like it that cold. I'd love months and months of los 70's
CJ, what a pretty Christmas quilt. I hope you can find fabrics to use but I do think pink and brown will work well. And .did you know that the post office has a service in which they will send you notifications of what first class mail you received that day. That way you wouldn't have to go out and find only junk mail. I was going to sign up one day but they send a text with a code for you to sign in with and I didn't have my cell phone near that day. They will also send the code in snail mail which they did for me but I still didn't get around to signing up
Well I got the blanket body done now the weaving of ends and border. The top has dips because of the nature of the stitch so I will look into how to get that flat. I know there's a young woman on youtube that has a video of a blanket where she shows how to make this kind of edge flat but I don't know where to start looking because she has hundreds of videos. I'll ask on FB because she has a group there. Otherwise I'll just wing it and figure something.I have several projects to finish after this one then I can maybe work on something I want to do just for fun.
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Post by cj59 on Sept 6, 2022 1:12:27 GMT
Hi Ruth - I'm glad you were able to finish most of the blanket. Hope you can find the video showing how to remove the dips. And I also hope you pick something to work on just for fun. I would love to have a high of 65. I really like temperatures in the 60s, but 70s are nice too. Hope you don't get too cold. I am signed up for the Informed Delivery emails from the Post Office and check them each day. It is nice to see what is out there and to check to make sure I get what they say they delivered. The problem is that I don't like to leave mail in my box, even junk mail, because living on a busy road with people walking by my mailbox I worry about someone taking my mail. In today's world I'm sure they could even use a piece of junk mail to try to steal my identity or open an account in my name. It's just something that bothers me. The brown and pink fabrics I was talking about are for the Hometown Charms quilt along (Pat Sloan): www.ilovetomakequilts.com/2022-hometown-charms-qal-1.htmlI'd use Christmas fabrics for the Fat Quarter Shop quilt along And I meant to talk about why it can be hard to pick fabrics for Pat Sloan's quilt alongs. She always like to use a fat quarter bundle of fabrics, along with some yardage. I'm sure she does this because she's trying to sell fabric and gets money from people buying the fabrics she recommends. I have to remember that she is a business. But if I want to use only yardage I have to kind of calculate how much I would be using for the blocks in her pattern in place of fat quarters. I can figure it out but I wish she would do a quilt along sometime where the requirements are just yardage. I usually always have a lot of fabric leftover from her quilt alongs, that why I try to avoid buying the fat quarter bundles. |
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Post by choney2 on Sept 6, 2022 15:24:42 GMT
What a morning! I worked almost 5 hours for what should have been only 3. Typical first day of school.
CJ- the hometown charms quilt sounds like a lot of fun- and I hope you are able to find fabrics that make your heart sing and excite you to make this quilt. And its rough when someone is trying to sell fabrics ( I know Pat Sloan does not push fabric hard, but if her designs are geared up for a fat quarter bundle, then that will make it more challenging. The fat quarter shop quilt is a mystery quilt….which might be fun but I have found out that I like knowing what I am making.
Ruth- congrats on getting the blanket almost done!!! Cannot wait to see what kind of project you would make just for fun.
Dark and rainy here today- but we need the rain so its ok.
Going to get a batch of soup in the crockpot.
BBL
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Post by cj59 on Sept 6, 2022 22:25:04 GMT
Hello Everyone - Hope you are all doing well It was in the low 80s here today but mostly cloudy, so not bad. Ginny - Hope you don't have any problems from the rain, but glad you got some that you needed. Sounds like it was a long morning, hope you get some rest this evening. I cleaned out my sewing machine this morning and put in a new needle. I always try to do that the first week of every month. I've read that a lot of quilters to it more often, and I guess if I had a very expensive machine I would but monthly cleaning seems to work for me. I also picked out two jelly rolls to go with patterns that I have. Jelly Roll Day is on September 17th and i'd like to make a quilt top on that day. But I would like to go ahead and have all the fabric cut and ready to just piece that day. Tomorrow is the Moda Blockheads block pattern and also the first pattern for Hometown Charms, so it will be interesting to see what those are. Hope you all get to do some crafting. Take care |
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Post by Ruth on Sept 7, 2022 1:30:56 GMT
Ginny, yes I imagine the first day of school for the year is very busy for everyone. I hope you got some rest last night and will again tonight. I hope the rain helps with everything instead of making the areas where there is not grass a muddy mess.
CJ, I forgot about you having a mailbox next to the street that can be easily accessed by stranger and you would not even know. I see now about the junk mail. I'm lucky and our development has locked mail boxes in one large location. I do burn all my junk mail and don't put it in the garbage because of the identity theft possibility. I really don't see how taking our junk mail could allow them to do that because if they know our name they can look online and find all kinds of info about us but I do what I can. I saw too much info online the other day when someone called and left me a message that they wanted to ask me a question about my property in that other state. I did a reverse phone number search and it had a very long list if info on the people that number belonged to. And yes I'm sure the people that have quilt pattern sites on youtube and FB get money from sales on products. The crochet videographers and pattern designers also get yarn sent to them as well as various crochet tools....must be nice!They get what they call a small amount of money whenever anyone buys materials through their link on their blog or channel.
Well I finished both blankets. I'm so happy to be able to cross those off my list. Now I have one more small project to do then I'll get busy and finish up the knot bags that I'm using for Christmas gifts....then to the fun stuff. I've been looking on youtube at various patterns and there are some by eastern Europeans and Japanese people that are very unique and look as though they would be fun to make.
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Post by choney2 on Sept 7, 2022 23:24:18 GMT
Quiet here today, but I know how that goes, when I post now, I respond to previous posts and then hit submit and someone else has posted!
CJ glad you are all set up for the jelly roll quilt day on 9/17. Yes, with a Jelly roll a simple quilt could be put together pretty easily. What color scheme or fabric line are you using for the quilt? Glad you got your machine all cleaned up and with a new needle. Do you use special needles? And I know we discussed this before, but I do a quick cleanout of my bobbin area when I change bobbins- my machine seems to be pretty fussy about lint there, so I treat it kindly. Me too!! I am interested in seeing what the Hometown Charm quilt looks like- I saw something about an applique Hometown Charm quilt also, but I know you are not a fan of applique.
Ruth, I also burn a lot of my junk mail (what a pain it is). Also have a paper shredder and if I am feeling lazy I use a black sharpie. They do sell a stamp of sorts that renders addresses unreadable. That is one of the reasons I want my firepit set up again, so that I can burn the junk mail I have collecting. And yes, that is one reason not to deal with smaller vendors, should the be inclined to sell personal information.. Congrats on finishing both blankets~I am curious to see what projects you come up with from your youtubes from overseas. Do they make much different looking items than we do? Gosh, I never thought of that, always thought crochet was crochet.
I finished the month 7 blocks today of my PMQ. Now gotta wait to get the next shipment. I did also find a pattern to make a rag doll, and I hope to make a faceless amish doll to decorate my family room with. (Only want to make a small doll, and being that I have the fabric for both the doll and her black apron and bonnet, I figure I will make that myself. It will cost me nothing to make… my grass seed is being put down tomorrow.
Hope everyone has a great evening.
Ginny
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Post by Ruth on Sept 8, 2022 1:41:03 GMT
Ginny, I'm glad to hear you got those blocks done. Now you'll be all set for the next shipment. I hope your grass grows nicely. I sometimes use a sharpie on the addresses but usually only on the packaging that is a large envelope or something. I'll be glad for winter in that respect...I can get my junk mail burned. I don't have a shredder.
Today I've been working on a soft fuzzy blanket for my youngest grandson who loves soft and fuzzy things. The pattern says it takes 3 hours. Not true and it's going to take me even longer because I made a mistake several rows back. I was just going to improvise but then decided to go ahead and pull it out back to there. The video for this was very odd. It was made by a man who is highly regarding in crocheting. He did the first 4 rows and then after making a 5th row with only sc he said goodbye. So everyone was confused. At that point the blanket was about the size of a large dishcloth and he gave no instructions on how to go from there. That sc row he did was intended to be used on the last row of the blanket and was not supposed to be included in the repeat. He didn't say which rows to repeat and in fact he told one person who asked that rows 2-5 were to be repeated which is not so. I figured it out but I do think that he did a very poor job. I'm making this little blanket with Bernat blanket yarn which I seem to have quite a bit of. You can make only so many reusable water balloons. This blanket will use up one huge skein and two smaller ones and I still have a bunch left but colors I can't use together for the most part. Some people make hats with this yarn but I tried that once and it really just does not work well for hats.
Ginny, the overseas people do their videos in their native languages so I go to settings to translate it to English. Many times the translations are very bad ones. And they all call it knitting and also crochet knitting but there's no knitting involved at all. It's all crochet but they have a unique way of incorporating stitches to make that very unique pattern. I'll have to find a good one and put the link here. they also always use a very small hook. They must make very hard and stiff blankets using a hook that small. They also don't leave much yarn for weaving in ends. Makes me wonder if they weave them in at all and what they do with those short ends.
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Post by choney2 on Sept 8, 2022 9:54:53 GMT
Good morning,
Ruth, I sometimes save those mailers (I order a fair amount of stuff from Walmart, mostly) and was happy to have one that just fit the panel quilt for my DBIL. But I get it, burning is in many ways easier. Shredders are a pain in the neck and unless you buy an office sized one, they tend to break and overheat easily. But I do have one, and found it useful with all the paperwork from my mother. Upon cleaning her house I had many bags of paper that needed to be destroyed. That blanket sounds wonderful- soft and fuzzy But!!!!! Wow. Hard to believe that such a respected crochet designer would put out a confusing video like that. Have you made one of his designs before? I am glad you figured it out! And yes that bernat blanket yarn is not good for hats, IMO. I cannot imagine using such a small hook for projects, unless one is using baby yarn. I give you a ton of credit for taking on so many different projects from different sources. Guess the best way to put it is I am not that patient.
Not sure if I will get any sewing done today- DD#2 is coming over with DGS.
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Post by phyl on Sept 8, 2022 14:26:51 GMT
OOD MORNING, I HAVENOT BEE NDOING MUCH QUILTING,need to get my backside in gear and do some deep cleaning, dd and family will be coming in about OCT 6th for our 60th anniversary, no big party we had them on the 25th and 50th. just a nice dinner party at a very well local RESTUARANT.
today I WILL FOR SURE BE WORKING IN THIS BEDROOM/COMPUTER ROOM.
THEY HAE BEEN WORKING ON OUR DRIVEWAY, MIGHT GET PART OF IT CEMENTED TODAY.
HAVE A GREAT THURSDAY DEAR FRIENDS. PHYL
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Post by choney2 on Sept 8, 2022 21:19:18 GMT
Hi Phyl, glad you checked in to say hi! We all have times in which we do not get much quilting done, or any crafting for that matter. Will any of your family be staying with you to celebrate your 60th anniversary with Don? Think a nice dinner party at a local restaurant is a great idea- less work for you and your family. Hope your driveway repairs go well…it sure does look nice when the driveway is spruced up a bit. And I am sure it will be a good thing to have it worked on before winter- so its a nice level surface before winter.
End of an era….something we knew was inevitable, but Queen Elizabeths passing still seems a shock.
Hope everyone had a good day.
Ginny
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Post by Ruth on Sept 8, 2022 21:42:07 GMT
I just heard that she died. It's a shock to me too. I thought she was going to live forever
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I love it when I don't have to get all that junk mail out of my mailbox. 
