Drapes in progress

Drapes? Is that an old-fashioned term? Curtains? Whatever you call them, I'm currently trying to awesome-up our old drapes into something for our new apartment (moving day, T-27 days).

Back two apartments ago (or about 7 months), I had tried to inexpensively decorate our 'industrial' styled apartment [cheaply exposed ductwork and concrete floor]. It was a fun place, but definitely not our style. Anyway, in order to make our first-floor loft a little more homey, we purchased eight panels of curtains from Ikea on sale. They are/were just plain thin tab-top cotton drapes, but they did the trick. Here's what one looks like strung on our current vertical blinds.

I kind of / really wanted to class it up a bit. This next place will be home for a while, and I want it to look that way. I am using the eight basic panels to create four mega-gathered-drapes, with horizontal gather lines every 10 inches and rod pockets in place of the tab top. Here's a glace of what that looks like...

I finished the first panel (of four) today. Yep, it took the better part of two days. But hey, spending all this time on them really solidifies their long-term place in our home, right? And they seem a bit heavier and thicker...good for those chillier climates.

Finish photos to follow at our new place :)

Herringbone: finish

Linking up to Quiltstory's Fabric Tuesday today.

I think the finish bug bit me...!

(pardon the rainy-day-indoor-only-pre-move photos!) I steamrolled through the beginning stages of this quilt, but I only completed a few straight lines of quilting before adding the binding. You see, the back of this big guy is a very soft and cozy yet eager-to-shed micro-poly blanket. My living room floor was begging me to finish off the edges of the quilt, and once that was done, it went straight to the bed on the first cold night we had.

Thankfully it warmed up this week, so I set to finish the basic straight-line quilting along the herringbone frames. I especially like the way that the quilting looks on the back of the quilt (and I think the quilting is just enough to serve its purpose but still let the micro-poly backing be soft and cozy).

If you look closely, albeit very closely, this photo also shows the little light gray and polka-dot fabric details added in the binding.

stats
size: queen-ish
pattern: variable framed herringbone
fabric: Habitat by Jay McCarroll full collection, Kona Ash, Kona White-ish, random dark gray pillow cases
quilting: criss-cross straight lines at the foot of the quilt, straight lines following the frames on the herringbone portion

One more detail for fun :)

Now all we need are some more chilly nights, and maybe a cup of hot cocoa :)

Happy Tuesday!

Quilt finish (one year in the making)

That's right, this quilt has been woefully hanging on the back of our couch, stuck with safety pins and one rogue needle, while I toiled (or rather, didn't toil) over the hand quilting I had planned for almost a year. I posted about this quilt in my very first project post on this blog. As a recap, I had planned to give this quilt to my husband as a wedding gift. That didn't really work out. When I finally finished piecing it eight months later, I invented this grandiose plan to hand-quilt the piecing pattern. I got through a whole one block. In an effort to make this quilt more usable by finishing it, I made the executive decision last week to machine quilt instead. And now, my friends, it is finished.

Besides this quilt, let me recap what has been going on around here. My husband successfully defended and submitted his dissertation, my parents nearly sold out of what I had sewn for them (resulting in feverish restocking), we hosted Thanksgiving for the first time, hubby has 2 weeks left in school forEVER, and we recently found out that we will be moving back to Maryland in about a month (if you are keeping tally, this will be our third move this year).  Things have been...exciting.

Needless to say, there will probably be a shortage of handmade gifts coming from our home this year. Heck, there might not even be a whole lot of decorating here. But I hope you are enjoying the preparations for upcoming holidays :)

the non-bachelorette

Who doesn't love when friends get hitched? Love is so great, and so worth celebrating. And that's why we took a friend I used to slave away work with out for an evening of relatively low-key non-bachelorette bachelorette-ness. You may not know that I dabble in the domestic pastry arts. What says "classy bachelorette" better than a glitter ball cake...? Yeah, I don't know either.

Next time, I will probably arrange the cake balls a little more strategically :) I think, however, the taste made up for the appearance! And I also think that this cake will be a repeat offender.

Happy weekend!

happy halloween!

"Who needs a broom when you can just Zip?"

it was feverish

I relapsed a bit, but for good reason. We sold our [costly-repair-bill] car, so we're now carless, and everything just takes a little more time (no complaints!). We also took a last-minute camping trip to North Georgia, and then we took turns being sick. Feverish part I.

And then my parents' fall craft shows really snuck up on me (slash I bought fabric in March and waited until October to make anything). Feverish part II. I was responsible for making some home accents, mostly revolving around the kitchen. I finally sent off the round-one package today, just in time for show #1 next weekend. Here's a little sneak of a bit of what they'll be selling.

as much as I love me a rich more-than-six-color rainbow, these aren't being sold together. bummer!

I have literally been in front of my sewing machine for as much as 12 hours per day, so I'm taking a little breaky-break. I'm sure that really means I will be back at it tomorrow.

Happy weekend!
Mary

a new purse-wallet

I guess I will call it a purllet.

I was inspired to make this double-flex-frame purllet by this really expensive clutch and a friend who had a double-framed wallet.

The fabric was a scrap given to me by a friend who had a skirt/dress made out of it in Ghana by this company.

I added a flush zip pocket to the inside to store goods and used the same technique to add a cash pocket and card slots (I lined the card slots with laminated cotton to help the cards stay put). I also inserted magnets to keep the purllet closed when not in use.

The flex-frame pockets are made with a recycled tape measure rather than an actual flex frame [because I am too impatient to wait and cheap to pay for them to be shipped to me], and one pocket contains a zippered change pouch.

Thanks to this tape measure for giving its life to this awesome little accessory. The remaining portion of the tape measure is underneath all that duct tape - I learned my lesson in securing it when it shot across the living room :) (I used a narrower 12' tape, not the 25' one) (PS, these things are harder to destruct than one would think.)

I was so happy to move into this new purllet - it's so convenient and the perfect size for all the regular items.

I'm contemplating writing a pattern for this guy :)

Happy Monday!

Mary

habitat quilt top

I kept right on steamrolling and ended up with the herringbone portion of the top finished yesterday, and I ran out of [some unknown color of] gray at the same time. I have a bit of an instant-gratification problem when I am on a roll with a project, so I set out today to find substitute fabric (knowing full well that I would not find the same gray).

This is when pillowcases from your friendly cheap-o discount store saved the day. They are a deep gray-almost-wants-to-be-purple color. I also picked up a microfiber blanket, a favorite in our household, to use as the quilt back. Fuzzy, comfy, and cheap completely outweigh the boringness.

 

A few quick finishing pieces and I now have a completed quilt top! The entire quilt includes the herringbone piecing as well as the white and dark gray bands at the foot of the bed.

Here is a close-up of the herringbone piecing. The 'height' of the parallelograms vary from 2.5" to 4", and the width of the herringbone bands varies from 6" to 9".

 

Next purchase: batting :)

someone lit a fire!

(potential energy stored during break) + (me time associated with busy husband) + (inspirational goodness provided by Habitat)

=

amazing productivity

 

I am not sure if it was always this fast or if I am experiencing some sort of hyper-drive, but I darn-near have a quilt top.

 

[I may have to purchase more gray, went a little crazy with the size of the quilt] [but I don't remember what gray I bought to begin with] [[crap]]

Happy Monday :)

the good news is I still like to sew

The bad news is that it took several weeks to figure it out. That's the cool thing to do these days, right? Take a break from the thing you normally use to take a break?

First it was "well, the Webernets aren't working, so I guess I can't post."

That turned into "does that mean I don't need to make anything...? yes."

Then it was "yay! we get to go to Minnesota! clearly I can't pack the Singer"

After that I was saying "crap, we're moving back to Atlanta WHEN? I totally forgot. okay not really, but for real."

And finally, after moving, "everything is packed away so nicely in our new apartment. who, in their right minds, would disturb this kind of organizational perfection?"

I overcame that last question today. But I'll be honest, taking a break was nice. I literally did not read any blogs for a solid six weeks [eternity? depends on who you ask]. I still love them, but I found myself getting caught up in everyone else's projects, and I lost my good old[some-would-argue-young] self.  Sometimes technology can take over your life, and I'm guilty of letting that happen. So now I get to resurface, minus one data plan on my phone and a large handful of blogs I "read," in favor of really keeping up with my faves and having more time to be inspired by me.

With that fervor, I kicked back into gear by starting a new quilt today! I have had a fat-quarter set of Habitat on hand for the whole summer, burning a hole in my stash. Initially I wanted to do a simple diamond pattern (or rhombus, if you ask my mathy Sean). Clearly I stewed too long on that idea because on the drive back from MD, my diamond shape cutter found a precarious place above the speaker in our car, and over the course of a 12-hour drive, it formed a new 3D speaker shape. Sorry mom! (she gave it to me for Christmas).

But in the shadow of tragedy blossoms creativity (so true in a million ways in my life), so I started cutting today for what I am calling Herringbone Habitat.

I am particularly excited for this quilt because I am not using anyone else's pattern but my own made-up one [eh, could be a disaster, but we'll find out soon enough]. And Habitat is so random, yet so unified. This quilt is easily going to skyrocket to the favorites pile.

I sincerely hope you all enjoyed the end of summer. I will be back in sooner than 6 weeks, scout's honor.

M

Mug Rugs and Internets

I'd like to think it hasn't been three weeks since my last post, but hey, things happen (or as someone told me while we were in the ER for the broken collar bone, sh** happens. and it does). In that time, I have visited family in Long Island, been without the Internets for quite some time, and completely overused my new favorite word, "fancy." So here I am at the Bucks for some fancy coffee, AC, and internet, feeling a little bit like I'm back in grad school.

I haven't been completely lame with the crafts. In preparation for the generosity I knew my aunt and uncle would show us during our visit (including but not limited to amazing seats at a Mets game), I whipped up some tea mug rugs and a mat for their teapot. They are big tea people. Morning, noon, and night. I forgot my camera, though, so here's a little snap from the phone.

I'm still not entirely sure if they all "go" together, but I think they are each cute. I used a lot of Modern Meadow and a little Hideaway (the clocks).

I also spent the better part of a week editing wedding photos. And I maybe got 25 done.  By no means am I an expert at editing, but I've definitely learned some amazing tricks.  My good friend took our wedding photos and didn't charge us a penny for the whole raw lot on disc. Uh-mazing. So now it's my turn to build it into a photo book. Here is one of my favorites because it POURED during our wedding :)

Anyway, until my next visit to Starbucks, or until our landlord gets back to his job, happy crafting :)

Mary

WIP Wednesday 7.13

It's that time of the week again, and I am decidedly doing my part to help Lee make it to 100 link-ups this week (after dropping the ball the last two weeks!)

Completed
Memorial quilts!

Long-overdue Gathered Clutches
My mother-in-law asked me to make some small clutches for her a while back. Funny thing is, I think she knows me, because she asked for them in March and needed them done by Christmas. Now that's a can-do deadline. I used the infamous gathered clutch pattern by Noodlehead for these.

In process
Hideoscope (pronounced Hide-oscope, not hideo-scope) (thanks to Katie for the name)
Well what do you know, I caught up with the Kaleidoscope QA! I think...should check the last post and make sure I didn't miss a step! Here are all my blocks.

I think my favorite part of the Hideaway line is the little guy in the alpine village who is fishing in the stream and has a quilt hanging to dry. If his house were for sale, I might just buy it.

My very first quilt
No pictures, but I dug it out of hiding. I'm hoping to finish piecing it by the end of the summer. Three years in the making...

Hope y'all are having a great week, and if you get a chance, write about what you are working on, and link up with Lee to help her reach 100!

On Quilt Alongs and Bicycles

Last Friday, despite my iron's free-will choice to fall over on the floor and melt the carpet again, I ironed out some Hideaway FQs and cut my pieces for the Kaleidoscope Quilt Along. Yay!

I decided to use the yellow gingham from the Hideaway line as my 'solid' because I had a lot of it. And I made an executive design choice to use the other gingham prints for the right triangle pieces.

Then I jetted off to take photos of the memorial quilts. And after that, I set up for a nice relaxing weekend. Let me tell you a little story about that.

Remember how my husband's bike was stolen? If not, that's cool. It was stolen a few weeks ago. Then we replaced it with a fancy new bike which we picked up last week. One with a different frame, one that forced my husband into a new riding position. One that put his center of balance more forward than he was used to.

Now imagine my excitement when we could bike together again on Saturday. About 17 miles in, we are officially booking it. I set the pace way too high [by no means am I gloating here, I was just going too fast for the busy area]. And when another cyclist coming head-on pulled out into the center of the path to pass someone else going his direction, I had no room to squeeze by at my speed. So I slammed on my brakes. And so did Sean. Only I kept moving, while he toppled over his handle bars.

Now, when I said twisted shoulders were all the rage, I didn't mean it literally. My heart absolutely sank/broke/crushed all at once when he answered the question "Are you okay?" with a simple "No." He's tough and always positive, so I knew this was really serious. He broke his collar bone from the impact, and as evident from looking at his helmet later in the day, he took a pretty good hit to the head too [note: buy a new helmet]. Thankfully he has had no headaches, memory loss, or vision impairment. We are so lucky that my stupidity only resulted in a broken bone. Praise God. Someone was clearly looking out.

We spent Saturday at the hospital, and were comforted by some great friends who dropped what they were doing because I was pretty much hysterical on the phone asking where the best and closest hospital is. We also have to thank the complete strangers who gave me a ride from the trail to our car, and who stayed with Sean to keep him talking and alert.

Now my focus is elsewhere. It's fun-and-games-with-hubs around here now. I'm currently trying to challenge him to a left-handed wii battle (we're both right handed, and that's the shoulder he injured). I've also considered embroidering something left-handed. If you have any ideas from past experiences with dominant-hand-injuries, or for cheering other people with such injuries up, by all means, I'm all ears.

AND WEAR YOUR HELMET. And wear it properly, with the chin strap and everything. Have it fitted by a professional. A helmet that flies off before impact does no good, and one that shakes around will do more damage than not wearing one. If you don't have one, BUY ONE. I am positive that it at least prevented a head injury, and could possibly have saved his life.

Much love from the not-going-as-well-as-planned northeast.

my grandma, Ms. Marie

...and the beautiful quilts that grew out of her closet of clothing.

Okay, I promise, this is the very last you will hear about any sort of memorial quilt around here. I am officially retiring from cutting up clothes. But before I do, I would like to present the six Marie quilts, in memory of my grandmother Marie who passed away in October at age 98. She taught me how to crochet and embroider, skills a real Czech lady has [polka dancing, another skill a Czech lady should have, I do not].


Quilt #1: The Blue Room
My grandparents had three bedrooms, and the blue room, complete with blue walls and multi-tone blue shag carpet, was where guests always stayed. I don't remember a visit without asking "who gets to stay in the blue room??" It was my favorite room as a child because it had two touch lamps in it. So fascinating for a young engineer's mind.

original inspiration: the value quilt by Jess at sewcraftyjess


Quilt #2: Farm-girl Fancy
Marie was the daughter of the town banker. She was a classy lady. But she left the city to teach in a small schoolhouse and live on a farm with her husband Joe, where my mom and her siblings grew up plucking eggs from the chicken coup every day.

inspiration: broken dishes block


Quilt #3: Nebraska Wedding
This quilt is for my sister, who was wed to her born-and-bred Texan hubby in Nebraska so that our grandma could attend. The pinkish-purple diamonds come from the outfit that Marie wore to the big event.

inspiration: HST quilt at quiltstory

Quilt #4: Pretty in Pink
Marie's favorite, and I'm talking FAVorite color, was pink. She had this one housecoat, the pink-with-multiple-colors one in this quilt, that she wore at least once every time we visited. Sometimes it hung on the stairs to the basement so that she could throw it on and take a stroll through the deep freeze to find our dessert for dinner. This quilt is for my mama, complete with the lace from the outfit Marie wore to my mom's wedding.

Quilt #5: Go Huskers
This is the only quilt that has a touch of Grandpa Joe in it. The plain black blocks are from the suit he wore to marry Marie, way back in the 1930s. The corners have little touches of his tie collection. It was only fitting to sew them into a Huskers-colored quilt since he was an avid fan. You know, one of those that wore a fancy scarlet-and-cream outfit to the games.

Quilt #6: Corn Harvest Rows
A Nebraska farm is not complete without a few rows of grain. I tried to emulate them a bit with these HSTs.

And now they are all packed up and on their way to the family reunion to find their forever homes.

I'd like to send a special thanks to a lovely couple who lent me their yard to take these photos :) I bribed them with cookies and cupcakes. I think we're even.

4th of July tank

Today, I tackled Simplicity's 6-made-easy number 2892 pattern (I chose the one pictured on the front of the pattern). It involved lots of gathering. Gathering and me, we don't really get along. I also took it upon myself to make changes to the pattern. Something I have never done before.

I decided not to include the extra ruffled piece on the already-gathered neckline.

I also chose to eliminate one of the two yoke linings. Three layers of knit fabric along the neckline of a summer top just didn't jive with me.

And this was my first time making clothing out of jersey knit. 

Perhaps those three things are what led to this:



notice: wing on your right (the left side is fixed already). I'd like to "believe I can fly," but I don't want to look like it too.

Solution: seam ripper + clipping out about a thumb's worth of lining. Only a small diversion to get to the finished product.



What I learned:
1. ball-point jersey knit needles get two thumbs up.
2. so does my walking foot.
3. sizing is quite different if you decide to use a knit instead of a more stable fabric.

Oh, and I used a print from the City Weekend collection by Oliver + S. But I still think it looks like something an adult should wear :)

for real this time, have a great 4th :)

WIP...Thursday?

I'm late. Story of my life. I got completely wrapped up in sewing yesterday, and I'm pleased to say that, despite the little setback, I have gotten quite a bit done this past week.

Newbie Bee Blocks
In true late fashion, I finished my June bee blocks for the first-timer bee on June 27th. This month, Carol wanted some black and white blocks with solid color accents.




Memorial Quilts
Three finished. Three basted. Pretty darn good. I know I said these would be done by tomorrow, but seriously, I'm proud of myself for getting this far.


from left to right
pink quilt - finished
green quilt - finished
purple quilt (ochre back) - basted
b&w quilt (red back. yep we're huskers) - basted
everything quilt (blue/green/brown back) - basted
np - blue quilt - finished

woo!

Kaleidoscope QA
AH! I'm already behind. I am printing the template as I type. The good news [and bad...I guess] is that I don't plan to budget for batting or backing until after Christmas, so I am concentrating on piecing tops for the rest of the year. So I've already taken myself out of the running for the end-of-QA giveaway.

That's all I've done. *brow wipe*

Have a safe and FUN 4th of July y'all!

Mary

some people!

Remember how I was going to be really productive and get all those quilts done by next week?

Well, I got sidetracked. Some jerk-face stole my husband's bicycle. His is on the left in this photo (side note: mine is the pretty red one :) ).  We had just bought him new tires on Saturday, in a smurf blue color. And we have no updated photo. And of course I found out about all of this just as I was arriving at the U2 concert on Wednesday night. Huge bummer.

So instead of sewing yesterday, I spent most of the day driving around looking for it and hunting the person down on craigslist. And then being upset about the fact that some people in this world are just that awful. I did, however, find a cute coffee shop in our neighborhood with really nice and helpful people (silver lining?)

The joke's on the thief though. Sean has been eyeing a time trial bike (think: triathlons) forever. Like, since he bought the one that was stolen. This gave him the perfect opportunity to get it.  And boy does he deserve it.

I'm starting to think he hired someone to steal his bike so that he had an excuse for the tt.

PS, it was locked. They took that too. Apparently U locks are not that great.  Neither are cable locks. So that leaves us with the last, most-expensive and heaviest option. LAME. Seriously, I think the thing weighs 15+ pounds.

In conclusion, boo stolen bike. Yay new bike, still getting to enjoy cycling with Sean, and getting back to sewing.

Have a great weekend everyone :)

work in progress 6.22

It's Wednesday again!



This past week, I've been working hard on...you guessed it, the memorial quilts! I love them. Really I do. But I am so tired of them. Light is at the end of the tunnel, I am hoping to have them sent off by the end of next week. Fingers crossed!

I finished this quilt with my sister's clothes for my other sister.




And here is the stack of the grandmother memorial quilts.



From bottom to top...
Blue quilt - finished!
Blue/Green quilt - awaiting quilting
Black & White quilt - pieced, awaiting a border
Purple quilt - pieced, awaiting a border
Everything quilt - currently piecing
Pink quilt (not pictured) - all HSTs made, awaiting piecing

Phew! Since I am going with a basic quilting style, I think my goal of next week will be accomplished. I did a mental count of the HSTs yesterday as I was finishing them up, and I realized that I have made about 640 of them (the b&w quilt is just squares).  Maybe that explains why I am so tired of them...?

Other projects
Kaleidoscope QA
I am SO looking forward to the Kaleidoscope QA starting tomorrow over at Elizabeth's blog, Don't Call Me Betsy. This will be my third QA, second with Miss Elizabeth. It is so much fun to work on the same project as other folks and to be able to share tips and tricks!

Habitat Diamonds
I have a FQ set of Habitat by Jay McCarroll that has been calling my name since Atlanta. I also have a diamond shape cutter thinger that I got for Christmas. Put the two together, and BAM!

Other than those two, I will probably mix in a couple of smaller projects. Will inform as they happen :)

Happy sewing, y'all!
Mary

a tribute to Alecia

It is both difficult and rewarding to finally say that this quilt is finished. Fair warning, there is a lot of emotional text ahead, both sad and awesomely funny :)

Alecia was the oldest sibling of the four of us. She passed away almost a year and a half ago, on December 23rd, 2009. It was a huge shock, unexpected, without warning.  I was back in Minneapolis from Atlanta for Christmas. Al and I had drifted apart to say the least, and when she called my parents' house on the 20th, I was the only one home, and I didn't think I had the energy to pick up the phone and talk to her. So I didn't. And that was it.

The process of collecting clothes was too quick. Every item was a memory, but there was no time to sit and remember. My other sister and I had jobs and school to get back to a thousand miles away. I packed up what I could and brought as much back to Atlanta as would fit [including a couple of space bags, which, by the way, are NOT reusable].

Then it all sat while I tried to heal. I would pick it up every now and then, but every piece smelled like her, and every shirt was a reminder that she wasn't coming back to wear it. My therapist [yes, therapist. if you can go through a sudden death without assistance from a non-family member, I commend you] recommended that I document the quilting process on a blog as a sort of homage to Alecia's memory. I kind of am doing that now.

My sister had her issues, but don't we all? She did care a lot about other people. She was always trying to make you smile, and she would give you all she had if it meant your happiness. Her acts of kindness were what kept her going so long. And her lasting gift to me is helping me realize that I need to make the most of every second that I have.


name from a sports shirt, orange shirt stolen from my closet years ago, yellow hip strap to some fancy undies, doll blanket from her childhood


blueberry muffin? (from Strawberry Shortcake) charm still in her jewelry box after all these years, blue linen (also found in a multitude of other colors), flannel pj pants, green shirt also taken from my closet (probably looked better on her anyway)


all the rest of the pieces. I am well aware that it kind of has a high-school-craft-project-modge-podge flare to it, but I think that's what I love, and I hope my sister Nicole loves too :) the more memories, the merrier!

Enough sobs. Here are some fun facts :).

Alecia was the person that taught me to use tampons. And by "taught," I mean I was visiting her at college, got my little package from mother nature, and Alecia would not buy me anything but tampons. I liken it to throwing a puppy into a pool and expecting it to swim.

She also had a slight obsession with finding deals at Old Navy. We would have more gifts from Alecia than from Santa some years. But, to Santa's credit, she would put just one piece in every box. And then she would leave the price tag on it so that she could show us just how great of a deal it was.

She was also obsessed with g-strings. Yep. Take a close look at the quilt and you will see some (the hip straps of course!) sewn into nondescript shapes like flowers and bows. And there were sometimes some of these under the Christmas tree from her too.

Alecia taught me the gloriousness that is a taco salad using a Doritos shell. Mmm...dinner tonight? Don't mind if I do.

She was a killer swimmer, particularly at the 200 fly [I think it was the 200 anyway]. If you know swimming, you know how B.A. the 200 fly is. One night she decided to go "north of the river," which was out of bounds for us, and she got rear-ended. She was still awesome after that, but it really threw her body for a loop.

Speaking of car wrecks, she also once ran into the pole that guards the drive-thru window at Burger King (where she worked). When she got home, I was outside playing, and she tried to shush me as I was yelling "What happened?!" Like you can hide a huge indentation and missing light on the driver side from mom and dad. Coincidentally, I worked at the same BK Lounge years later, and I am pretty sure the navy blue scuff marks were still there.

My mom threw a spade at her one time. Hahahaha. This makes me laugh out loud. We were reconstructing our back yard and basement, and during a huge storm, we had a lot of water pouring in. So my mom and Alecia went out to dig trenches away from the house (while my dad was out of town, because he was always out of town during these gems), and upon a very close lightning strike, the spade miraculously flew out of my mom's hands (aka was thrown) and landed inches from Alecia as mom ran around to the front of the house repeatedly screaming one particular cuss word that rhymes with 'fit.' All while I watched from my window.

She once let me take her car on a road trip if I repaid her by cleaning it. Another time, she convinced me to clean it by letting me keep any change I found. WIN. Seriously, if you had seen her car, you would know just what a jackpot that was for me.

I got her drop-handle bike as a hand-me-down. At least I think it was hers. That's what lead me to love bicycling. Okay, it's more of a love-hate, but I plain old love drop-handle bikes.

So, if you made it this far, thanks for trucking through my homage. I miss her, but I know that she is much happier now, and that can't do anything but make me smile :)

best to you all.
Mary

works in progress 6.15

It's that time of the week again. You know, when I look around my sewing area and tell myself that I am in fact getting things done. Bahaha, gotchya! That's why I am thankful that this linky is about progress.



I'll admit, my primary focus has not been sewing. I spent some time in DC this past weekend with some friends. It was a nice distraction from the extreme heat that kept me from leaving our basement last week. [I  tripped the breaker trying to sew in our basement. Not happening]. We have been doing more bicycling than usual because the off-road paths here are so much better than those in Atlanta, and me and my clip-in pedals like the off-road business. All in all, finding a nice balance I suppose.

Enough rambling. I have managed to keep on trucking with the grandma memorial quilts. I finished most of the piecing on the purple one (yep, pretty much going to refer to them by their color now). I actually completely finished the blue one. I'm waiting until they are all done for a big "yay they're finally done!" reveal, but here's a little peak.



I finished piecing my sister's memorial quilt (the last of them) and I decided that, with its total randomness in pattern and texture, it would be best to finish it by tying instead of machine quilting. Insert: sore fingers and hands, broken needles, and lots of cuss words. Can't wait for this to be over.



Sometimes when I look at this quilt, I see certain patterns and wonder "what was she thinking?! please tell me she did not wear that in public." Like that lime green / blue / pink flower number....? Really? Then I remember there are other shirts that she straight-up stole out of my closet. Shirts that I was positive my mom had lost in the laundry. And then there are the shirts that I so desperately wanted to steal out of her closet, but I knew the consequences, and I wasn't going to go there with her. Oh the perils of older sisters. ;)

That's all for now. Wishing y'all a great week :) Stop on by Lee's place to see what everyone else is up to!

Mary