a helpful remedy

I don't often wash my quilts right after they are finished, but as I mentioned last week, I washed and dried my broken dishes quilt to get that lovely crinkle. I got the crinkle I was after, but I also discovered that the turquoise dye in one of the quilt blocks bled quite a lot. Ugh. There is a lot of red in the quilt, so I thought that it would be one of the red fabrics that would give me trouble. Nope. I discovered the issue AFTER I had dried the quilt in the drier. Blergh.

I shared a photo with my friend Mary, and she recommended using this method to try to remove the excess dye. I was doubtful that it would help, but I thought I might as well give it a try. At this point, what did I have to lose?

I followed Vicki's instructions, using "All Free and Clear" detergent. I'm very pleased to share that a LOT of the excess dye came out. Woohoo! Thanks so much to Vicki for sharing her methods and Mary for pointing me in the right direction!

I do want to add, that in the first washing I used cold water, 2 color catchers, a cup of vinegar AND I threw in a bath towel to absorb any excess dyes, should there be any bleeding. I also removed the quilt from the washer immediately after the washing, so I thought I was pretty well covered. (That's all my tricks and it still bled!)

I thought I would pass along this information, just in case you are in the same position someday. I hope you find it helpful, too!

the answer

Thank you so much for joining in my guessing game! It was quite fun for all of us here to read your answers. :)

The number of quilts is....

91!

(I KNOW! That's a lot!!!! I was surprised by the total, too.)

Jenny was the closest with her guess of 93.

Rachel gets honorable mention for guessing that it is one BIG quilt folded very carefully for the illusion of many. :) Very clever and a little bit sassy. I love it!

Several questions were asked in the comments such as:

Where do you store them all?

We use several of them daily and the rest are stored in my quilt cupboard. It was a TV armoire that I eventually took over and filled with quilts. It's a happy, happy place!

How long did it take you to accumulate that many quilts?

13 years. That is the amount of time that I've been quilting, too. Hard to believe!

Were they made by you? Gifts?

Some of them were gifts, one is vintage (purchased) and the rest were made by me. No wonder my arms hurt most days. :P

LeeAnn asked how do you make folding fun?

Heh. It took awhile to refold everything, but it was fun to "revisit" each quilt. And as Debbie brought up, quilts need refolding, anyway!

Nicolette recalled that I did a guessing game very similar to this many years ago. I checked and it was way back in 2008! It was fun to look back at that post and see the totals then.

No one asked, but I'm sure someone is curious. I've finished 218 quilts in my day (as far as I can figure). That counts wall, baby and larger. Doll quilts, place mats, pillows and the like aren't counted in that number. So, the fact that I have 91 at my house isn't too bad. (Or maybe I'm in denial.)

Either way, I have a stack of quilts that I plan to sell (when I can figure out pricing and work up the guts to put myself out there) because I certainly don't NEED 91 quilts and I definitely want to keep making more!

Now, I need to get back to quilting.....ha!!!

sewing machine rundown

My main machine is my Juki TL-98Q. If you've read my blog for awhile, you probably already know this, but I LOVE MY JUKI! I'd become a spokesperson for them in a heartbeat if I had the chance. I've sewn on this machine for 6 1/2 years and it's like my right arm. There is so much to like about it. I like to sew fast and this machine does just that! At top speed it sews 1500 stitches per minute. The machine is mostly metal, so it's sturdy and a true work horse. Actually, it's kind of like the Energizer bunny. It keeps going and going and going. It weighs about 23 pounds, so it's not the most portable, but it's still manageable. I've flown with it and put it in an overhead compartment of an aircraft (several times). It took some upper body strength to wrestle it up and down, but I managed to do it without harming myself or any small children. (ha!) It's a straight stitch only-there is no zig zag. That's the one drawback, but definitely not a deal breaker. The auto cut feature is something that I turned up my nose at when I bought it, but now it's one of my favorite features. I MAY be a little spoiled by it. :) The first time I sat down to my machine I did some free motion quilting and it held the tension on both sides right out of the gate...no adjusting needed. Seriously impressive! I've free motion quilted MANY a quilt, and I rarely have tension issues. I can quilt FAST without the machine feeling like it's going to rattle off the table or rattle apart. It's not picky about the kind of thread I use, which is a huge plus, and it's got adapters for cone holders. All around, it's a simple, dependable machine.

In the past few years I have found it to be less dependable at straight line quilting. Layers shift more than they used to when doing straight line quilting. I haven't been able to get down to the bottom of WHY this happens...nor has my repair man. It's subtle at times and more pronounced at others. It bugs me! I have replaced my walking foot and it hasn't helped the problem. Maybe the machine is just tired? I don't blame it one bit. :) All that being said, I still use this machine with my walking foot to attach all my bindings to my quilts and it works well then. ????? I don't know what to think of all of that.

The TL-98Q model has been discontinued but has been replaced by a similar machine, which is the TL-2000QI.

Last November I bought a Janome Horizon Memory Craft 7700 QCP. It was kind of an extravagant purchase...but I broke down and bought it anyway. It's huge and a little bit flashy and I must confess that I love that red panel. This thing has more features than I could ever hope to use. It has a zig zag stitch, so I can piece batting to my heart's content. (My husband made a comment about how much batting I could buy at the price of this machine, but that's not really fair now, is it?) To be honest with you, I have just started to learn the ins and outs of this one. One of my favorite features so far is the built in even feed foot. This thing straight line quilts like a dream. (One instance aside.) I have used it to do a lot of honeycomb quilting, too, which is a nice alternative to straight line quilting or stippling. I'm planning to sew more clothes for my daughter (and hopefully me, too) so the zig zag and over lock stitches will come in handy for finishing seams when that time comes.

A few weekends ago I tried to free motion quilt on this machine and it didn't hold the tension on the back very well at all (think ladder stitches) so rather than mess with the settings, I just jumped on over to my Juki. Someday I plan to devote some time to figure out that piece.

I've found that I am using both machines for different purposes, but both with enough regularity that I "need" them both set up at the same time. And I think that's a good thing! Also, my husband was in full support of me buying my Janome, but he did reserve the right to give me a hard time about it. Typical!

studio follow up

Thanks so much for all the kind comments on my studio! It was fun to read through them. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and thanks for being gentle.

I thought I'd cover a few questions that came up....

Someone asked to see the pillow that was on the wall. Here it is in all it's scrappiness! This project came about when a friend that was visiting me asked about my Go! baby. I pulled out the little machine (which I don't use very often at all) and we played with it for a bit. Before I knew it, I had a new WIP. That seems to happen a lot in my house! Ha! The silver lining is that I used a bag of scraps from my washtub. That felt great!

I finished the pillow with an envelope closure using this lovely floral fabric. It's so crisp and pretty and springy!!!

I think I am becoming a pillow-er. (I believe Tara coined that phrase and I love it!) It's fun to play with patchwork on a small scale, it's nice to have a quick finish, and it's super nice to have a new pillow to brighten up my couch! The patchwork squares are 2" finished. BIG shock there, I know! The pillow finishes at about 20" square.

I had a few questions on fabric folding. I've been using this method off and on (mostly on) for years. I love it because it's easy, tidy and no special gear is required.

Take a 6" x 24" ruler and fold the fabric around the ruler. In this photo the selvages are at the top and the fold of the fabric is at the bottom. Gently slide the ruler out of the fabric. (Make sure that the raw edges end up somewhere in the middle of the piece, not on an edge, so they will become fully enclosed in the next step.)

 Fold each end toward the middle.

Fold in half again. All the raw edges are tucked inside so the pile will be super neat and tidy. Isn't that slick? Fat quarters can be folded in the same manner. So can smaller pieces, but if the fabric doesn't wrap all the way around the ruler, I throw it in the scrap bin. That's the rule.

Just a few more things on the studio space...yes, I will miss the space when we move. How could I not? It's been a wonderful, albeit temporary, location to sew in. I am so very thankful for a dedicated sewing space. I know that I am very blessed! And of course it's not always that clean. Sewing is messy work! We all know that. :)

Glad to hear that there is interest in the sewing machine post. I'll try to write up the pros and cons of my machines. Soon.

One more thing! I am planning on updating my FAQ page. It is so out of date. If you would like to ask a question, I'll try to work it in, so ask away! It will help me out. Thanks!

happy Valentine's day

i wanted to do something special for my kiddos today.
(in addition to their cards and treats, of course.)
the idea popped into my head right before bed last night.
totally inspired by my kids' love of legos AND the many adorable pixelated hearts I've seen around the internet.
(i can't wait to hear my kids' reaction when they found out I was playing legos while they were at school!)

happy Valentine's day!
hope you have a wonderful and sweet day!

I'm in over my head

alternate titles to this post could be:

I can't do it all, but I'm trying my hardest to anyway. (and driving everyone crazy in the process.)

or

my kids have been watching a lot of PBS and movies this week.

or (my personal favorite)

too bad my stay-at-home-mom job lacks vacation time, because I sure could use one.

This week instead of my usual blogging and quilting routine, I :

started painting my kitchen red...three coats down, one to go. The brass light fixture is the next thing to go.

turned over a small garden plot (by hand!) and planted a vegetable garden (note to self: don't try to do these two things in the same week ever again.) 

spent one afternoon pushing 2 of my 3 children (60+ lbs.) in the stroller around town for a two hours while running errands (and for exercise, of course). 

spent 2 days cleaning my house....for what? it's already dirty again. 

I really am in over my head. I don't like this feeling one bit. And it scares me that I am feeling this burnt out with summer vacation looming. 

So in the interest of trying to regain some sanity, I am on a mission to try to finish up some WIP's, in quilting and otherwise.

Wish me luck.

fabric

I flubbed up the NaBloPoMo thing, so I decided to take a few days off...I am feeling quite burnt out when it comes to just about everything right now. Any one else right there with me?

But you know what cheers a girl up?
Fabric in the mail!

Lovely Lera sent me a box FULL of fabric scraps and other goodies. I was grinning from ear to ear when I left the post office. Thank you Lera! I love it all. Again, I feel quite spoiled. :)

That left my husband pondering why on earth I would still need to buy more fabric this weekend. I guess I didn't NEED to. But I got some lovely additions for the stash.

I found the cutest little quilt shop ever. I gasped several times as I was discovering gorgeous bolts of fabric. The store is crammed full of fabric and vintage linens, gifts and antiques, so the shopping experience becomes like a treasure hunt. It was FUN! The owner's taste in fabric is simply wonderful. I was there an hour past closing...it was that good. There was a fabulous quilt sample in the shop, so I will be starting another quilt this week, most likely. It's a good thing that I am almost done with this one. And this one, too.

offer

We got an offer on our house yesterday.
Woo-hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now we are praying that nothing falls through and that things go smoothly. We are looking to close sometime next month.

If you could see me now, you would see me jumping for joy.

studio progress

I saw this post and I thought I could join in the fun, at least for this week.

My creative space is getting an upgrade in this house....no more sharing with the laundry room. Although I was fine with that, I am thrilled that my creative space could now be called a studio. It still sounds a little weird to me, but it makes me feel more official. :)

It will actually be a studio/office. I get 7/8 of the room. My husband gets the remaining 1/8. (I'm sad to say that I am not joking.) I spent most of the day unpacking and organizing. It was so enjoyable. I have miles to go before I sleep.

You can tell that I am nowhere near settled because the sewing machine isn't set up yet. I had better get on that soon, or I will get all twitchy.

Also read about this, and think that I just may join in that fun, too.

what would you do....

...if you knew you only had six months to live?

I was pondering this question yesterday when I was mowing my lawn. (I have a huge yard, so I had a lot of time to think about this.) Today marks the 2 year anniversary of the death of one of my friends. And in exactly a month, it will be the 2 year anniversary of the death of another of my friends. Both friends each fought 4 rounds of cancer in a 4.5 year time span. They were both within 5 years of the age that I am now.

I came to the conclusion that if I knew I only had six months to live I would be living my life a lot differently that I am now. I would spend much more time with my husband, my kids, my family and my friends. I would devote much more effort toward my relationship with my Maker, who is my Saviour and Lord. I would spend less time being busy. I would spend a lot less time accumulating and maintaining my stuff. Because all the stuff isn't going to matter in the end. Heavy stuff, but well worth the thought.

So what would you do?

my head is spinning

Here is what has been going on in my life in the past week:

We moved from our tiny little temporary apartment into a rental house. This place feels like a mansion. We are loving the house. This move is nowhere near complete, but we are one step closer to the end.

My husband and I had a lovely dinner cruise date Friday night. The evening was planned and paid for by his work place. It was something that we wouldn't have found the time to do otherwise. Thanks to Hjordi for babysitting my kiddies.

My daughter is cutting eye teeth.

One of my boys has a cold.

A new bus route for my other boy.

Met some wonderful new neighbors. They bake great cookies. :)

No internet access in our home for 5 days. And 7 hours.

I finished a quilt top.

And started a new (insane) quilt project.

My sister had her first baby yesterday-a little boy.

And my other sister is here to visit for a few days.

Whew. Anyone else tired?

a day this good...

...needs to be documented.

The kids and I went on a walk today...

...I took lots of photos...
(the skies are brilliant blue here, too, Susan.)

...I love everything about fall....

...we enjoyed the beautiful weather...

...and collected a stroller basket full of leaves and pine cones.

Now, I need to figure out how to knit (in the round) and felt a bowl to hold the pine cones. I'm wondering what to do with all my pressed leaves. (this is the second batch)

The kids and I also got to have lunch with my husband.
I got some sewing time in.
I played with the kids.
It's been a good day.

exercising gets me into trouble: part 2

Yes, there is a part two.


I can hardly believe it myself.

Yesterday it was sunny and 75 degrees at 3 in the afternoon. Perfect summer day. And I am thinking, "how many of these days are left this year? We really need to go on a walk." The baby had waken from her nap and we had a few hours before my husband got home from work. So we again set out on a walk.


Things were going pretty well, there was a lot less complaining that the previous day and I was convinced that everything would be fine.


We were dropping off our electric bill and my son was playing on the railings right outside the building. I had just told him to stop screwing around and to get down. Not even 30 seconds later he is SCREAMING and he has a mouth full of blood. Thankfully he didn't knock his teeth out or anything, but he bit his tongue REALLY bad. I mean, like a flap cut open bad. One of the ladies that works at the utility came out and asked if we needed anything. (People are really nice in this town.) She brought us some ice and the bleeding stopped pretty quickly. He was really shook up about it. It was gross. So he has the cutest little lisp now, because his tongue has a pocket in it. (I am cringing even as I am typing this.)





So, yes, I am a slow learner.
It is another perfect summer day.
But I refuse to go on a walk.
I don't want to have to write a 3rd installment.
(Sorry if I grossed you out.)

exercising gets me into trouble

This morning I was planning my day and I decided the kids and I would walk downtown to get a few things. We all could use the exercise. I brought a jug of water, had the sunscreen and I thought I was prepared. It was pretty humid, but sunny. And we set out.

So we are walking. It's a lot longer than I would normally go with the kids, but last week when we were at my sister's, we walked quite a bit and the kids did great. So I thought today would be no problem.

We get closer and closer to downtown. Pretty soon it starts thundering. But it was still half sunny. I thought we might have a brief shower, but we could wait it out at the library or the store or something. At this point my son had been complaining about the side of his foot hurting.

Pretty soon it starts to sprinkle. Not a big deal. We continue running the errands that we set out to do. Post office. (We were a little wet at this point, but the boys thought it was a fun adventure.) Health food store. Grocery store.

We leave the grocery store and we are probably about a mile from home. It's dark. Really dark. We know we are in trouble. No two ways about it.

So I put my little boy (who was really complaining about his foot hurting now) in the stroller, I decided to carry the baby and my older boy had to push the stroller. We were able to cover the distance a bit more quickly. This lasted a few blocks. Then my older son got tired of pushing the stroller, so we put the baby back in the stroller, and the boys walked. Eventually I ended up carrying my 30+ pound boy (he had blister).

We are getting closer and closer to home and it starts raining harder. And harder. It was POURING! Thankfully my kids were enjoying it.

We were a few blocks from home when a super nice lady stopped by and asked if we needed a ride home. I declined, since we were close and we were already soaked. I made sure to let her know that it was very sweet of her to offer.

We eventually got home. And just when we got there, it stopped raining. Of course.

The moral of the story: It doesn't pay to exercise.

I should be able to justify a good 3 days off now because that is how long it's going to take for our shoes to dry out.

new quilt top

I have been doing a lot of sewing this week.

I decided I need another quilt (in July-go figure) and my pink fabric stash is going to overtake the whole lot pretty soon. So, with those 2 factors, and ignoring the fact that I have at least 5 other quilts going, I came up with this.

Its 4" wide strips cut at random lengths and all sewn together in strips. Easy peasy.
I think I started the top on Monday. Here it is, on Friday, measuring 77" x 88" or so.

Here is what my pink stash looks like now-barely a dent in it.



On to other news....this morning I packed a picnic lunch and we were going to go meet my husband at work and spend his lunch hour with him. I had all the kids packed up and ready to go when I got a call from him saying he had a lunch meeting he had to be at. We were all disappointed, but decided to go to our regular park instead. (We are there at least 3 times a week.) So we went and played and we met our first Wisconsin friends. During our conversation she said that she would try any craft once. Her and I are going to get along just fine. :) She has a little boy and a little girl close to my kids ages and she has also relocated a few times. So we have lots in common. Hurray!

It's been a good day.

32

quilt made by my sister Clair, given to me for my 30th birthday

1. I am a 4th of July baby.
2. I share my birthday with my sister, Clair. She is 2 years older than me.
3. Growing up, we both hated sharing a birthday. Now we both think it is pretty cool.
4. My sister and I have celebrated only a handful of birthdays apart.
5. I have been married for almost 10 years.
6. My husband is great-for one, he brings balance to my life.
7. I went to school for Graphic Arts.
8. I worked in a printing company for 7 years.
9. I quit my job when my oldest child was born.
10. I love Mexican and Chinese food.
11. I like to cook.
12. I like to eat.
13. I am one of 6 kids.
14. I am the fourth child and the youngest girl.
15. I was the first of my siblings to get married.
16. I am a perfectionist.
17. I have outlived my mother. (She died 18 days before her 32nd birthday.)
18. I was 5 years old when she passed away.
19. My dad raised all 6 kids.
20. He never remarried.
21. Now that I have children of my own, respect for my dad has increased dramatically.
22. I grew up on a dairy farm.
23. I hated it then, but am thankful for it now.
24. Being a stay at home mom is the hardest job I have ever had.
25. I have become a homebody over the past few years.
26. I am a control freak.
27. I have a type A personality.
28. It isn’t difficult for me to make new friends.
29. I tend to be frugal.
30. I love to create things.
31. I love to blog.
32. My favorite color is PINK.

In honor of my birthday, I will be doing a give-away. I’m not sure what the prize will be yet, but I will draw a name from all commenters on Saturday, July 7th.
Please comment only once. Thank you.

Happy Independence Day!
And Happy Birthday, Clair. I like sharing a birthday with you.

downs and ups

For those of you wondering, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I just moved to Wisconsin, but it kinda feels like a close second. I don't have internet connection at home yet and the withdrawal is severe. Severe, I tell ya'.

We are trying to adjust to apartment life with 3 kids. It's harsh. My husband was ready for a break from all the screaming and whining from the kids before we even ate dinner tonight. My daughter must be teething or something. The boys run (what kid doesn't???) in the apartment and the cranky old man living below us was already complaining about us before we signed our lease paperwork. Sounds like fun, no? Thankfully the property manager is really, really nice.

The upside of things:

I drove through Chicago for my first time ever last week. That is HUGE for me. I can barely ride in the passenger's seat through the city-I am a nervous wreck in all that traffic. But I actually drove through it. During the day. And I even changed lanes once! I don't think I'll make a habit of it, but it is something that I never thought I would be able to do. So yay!

I finished my crocheted rag rug.

It's a little bit wonky. But I really like how it turned out. I estimate that I recycled about 15-20 t-shirts. About half of them or more were kids shirts.

The library has wireless internet, which is great.

I finally got to sew today, for the first time in 5 days.

I am having a little alone time for the first time in weeks. Bliss.

This moving and upsetting the delicate balance we had going is not for the faint of heart.

my life in numbers

13 months 22 days: little A thinks it an appropriate time to start throwing temper tantrums

10 days til I see my husband

5 days til my sister comes to visit

1 day til a slumber party with Amy and her boys

2 hours and 15 minutes until bedtime

1 bump on the forehead today for P, caused by a concrete step

1 sweet letter (for each of us) from my hubby today in the mail

0 crafting in the past 2 days

1 extremely tired mommy

today....

I am...

sewing a purse for a friend that I will miss dearly.

shedding tears because I have to leave my dear friends soon....


sending treats and pictures to dad

missing my husband so much it hurts.

i'm home...and overwhelmed

oh, it is good to be home. and for a stay-at-home mom (who spends A LOT of time in said home) it's good to have a renewed appreciation for it.

the trip to mn was great. we spent lots of time with family and friends.
traveling (with kids) is a lot of hard work, but well worth it.
I did a lot of shopping. got some great deals. bought lots of fabric. {I love mill end outlet!}
met up with blog friends and stayed with my sister. had a blast.
got to give judy her quilt.






[here are a few projects that I finished up right before leaving.]

now, on to the overwhelmed part.

my husband went to FL on a job interview a few days before our trip to mn. {i don't want to move to FL}
while on our trip to mn, he found out about another job opening in hudson, wi...much closer to home. {i think i want to move to wi...although I do LOVE living in MI...I would miss it.}
(he wasn't even looking for another job, I might add, they are looking for him. which is great.)
but still, the possibilities are turning our world upside down. we are constantly talking about our options. looking for properties on the web. dreaming. planning. yikes.
it seems that relocation may be in our near future....but then again, you never know. whew. wouldn't you be a little overwhelmed? it is exciting, and I am so proud of my husband. he works hard, does a great job, and he is a great provider for our family. he is making a name for himself in his industry. I am so happy to be at his side, where ever we may end up.