Delectable whirligig quilt

Well, that's what I'm calling it. It's a delectable mountain quilt block with an added triangle to make a pinwheel, so It's a delectable whirligig block! I have no idea with the designer of the block actually called it.

It's midnight and I'm so tired I could fall over but I wanted to post this picture because I love this little top. I have sewed about 6 hours today completing this one. It ended up taking a lot longer than I expected; not having to cut the strips didn't save a lot of time.

It's a terrible picture because the curtain rod isn't long enough for the whole width. I had to tape the corners to the wall to keep them hanging semi-straight. Some day I'm going to have to get a design wall. Right after I get a sewing room.

Anyway, there's my latest. What do you think?

Ode to the zip lock bag

All quilters love cheap, easy to find, effective tools. And when one of the best is no farther than your kitchen drawer, that's even better.

Yes, I'm talking about the humble zip lock bag. With or without a slider, cheap or expensive, double zipper, color change seal, lightweight or freezer, I love 'em all. From organizing your tools, sorting your patches or protecting the completed blocks, they do it all.

There's a stash of zipper bags in my sewing closet that have seen heavy service. I use the small sandwich size to sort and hold cut patches, one per block. When I'm making a very scrappy design it's helpful to distribute all the pieces throughout all the blocks at the outset to be sure your fabrics and colors are scattered evenly. Each block goes into its own bag, and if order is important, I number them with a Post-it.

After the blocks are sewn, they go into a larger bag for protection while the quilt is in progress. Rows are pinned together using my system - number of pins equals row number, points facing the direction the seams need to be pressed. If there are a very large number of rows, I have used the pins to form roman numerals! X is a lot easier to do than 10 pins in a row.

A zipper bag keeps my magnetic pin cushion away from kitty feet when I leave my sewing machine, and spools of thread out of kitty mouths. They hold my supplies for sewing on the go, and keep my applique tools at the ready. Larger bags hold entire projects and the humongous ones carry work to the quilter and finished quilts home and to the Project Linus coordinator.

Pretty good for a little piece of plastic!

Uh...........

Yesterday, I made a stop at my local quilt shop after taking my bungled quilting job back to the longarmer and stating my complaint. In summary, she refunded 1/3 of the cost of the quilting and apologized - a lot. Since it wasn't a top that I had a lot of hopes for in the beginning, I considered it a good resolution. (I made critical errors in selecting fabrics too close to the same value and by the time I realized it, too many log cabin blocks were made to just throw it out or modify it. So I completed it with a piano key border and had it quilted allover with a clamshell panto. It makes a good bedspread and I think I will alternate it with my white wholecloth quilted bedspread now and then. But I'm still incredibly embarassed by my goof.)

But, I was driving very close to my favorite quilt shop and thought I'd just drop in to see what was new. I DID NOT WANT TO BUY ANYTHING! Boy, famous last words. They have a little quilt in the window that I have been eyeing for months. It's made using the Moda Shangri La jelly rolls, and is just adorable. Well, yesterday it got to me. I had to make this pattern. It's basically a Delectable Mountains block with an added triangle at the corner that forms whirligigs when the blocks are set this way. I poked around and found a jelly roll of Moda "Folklorique", a yard of the large red print from that line, and an orange-y apricot small print also from Folklorique for the backing. Folklorique screams "summer" to me with the reds, apricots, lime greens and bright sky blues. I have been wanting to make a series of small quilts to hang in the hallway and change by the season. I think I have the start here.

Of course I didn't have my camera with me, so I rushed home and sketched the pattern as quickly as I could so I wouldn't forget how the blocks were set together. (My first try was a little messed up. I just now realized what I did and fixed it.) One of the best things about this little jewel is it's all strips and there's almost no bias! (The diamond log cabin made me slightly crazy so I had to put it away for a while. All those 60 degrees angles.......)

The jelly roll will make this go soooooo fast! As soon as I cut the strips to length and add white strips from some stash fabric , I will lay all the fixings on the table in the bedroom/computer room beside my new sewing machine and be ready to sew at a moment's notice. This is such a small project I can work on it in a small space and not make a dreadful mess. And I can join all the color strips/white strips at once and press en masse. It will be fun to have a simple project.

I know I said I was cutting out the splurges since we were talking about another house, but........I just had to!

Another house whine!

We got the analysis of our house value from the realtor yesterday, and it was just what I expected. His estimate of its selling price was about $30K higher than the realtor who works with the expensive builder. However, that increased number is scant comfort compared to how much it would cost to build a new house. We're no closer to a decision (and I've still got a stomach ache - this whole thing is going to give me ulcers).

Butterfly Boxes quilt

Here are the pictures I promised yesterday of my butterfly quilt. I am so pleased with it - the colors match my living room perfectly, and it's just the right size to cuddle up on the couch.

It's also the first quilt I have done with a pieced design on the back, which gave me some trepidation. Since I use a longarm quilter, I was afraid it wouldn't turn out straight, but she did a wonderful job.

Whenever I photograph quilts hanging on my closet door, they never hang smoothly and end up looking like they are not straight and square at the corners. I swear that the opposing sides are the same length and it is a rectangle!
And here it is in place. P.S., I made the drapes. And the fabric skirt on the sofa below the seat cushions was an anti-cat measure - she would lie on the floor and pull herself along the length of the couch by digging her back claws into leather on the front. Yipes!

A little quilty progress

I did accomplish some sewing yesterday. I completed binding my butterfly lap quilt; it's lying on the end of the couch now. I'll make a photo tomorrow and post it. I used a new longarmer for it and she did a nice job. Maybe that will be my new quilting source. As I am about to tell, the other one I have has disappointed me once too often.

Some time ago I started a failed log cabin - not enough contrast. It wasn't going to be a prize winner but it was bright and the fabrics were pretty, so I put a piano key border around it and sent it to be quilted at the local longarmer shop. I provide my own batting and backing because they use polyester batting which I think is too thick and only have white backing. Their quoted price includes their batting and backing, and I used to get a credit since I supplied my own. Well, surprise, today when I picked up the quilt, they raised their prices and don't give me that credit anymore, so I'm in effect paying for materials I'm not getting. Great, just great.

Smarting from that indignity (what are you going to do, not pay them and not get your quilt back?) I brought it home and started to trim the edges. That's when I found that they weren't very careful loading the batting on the roller and got a big old pleat in it that extends about half the length of the quilt! It overlaps on itself by a good two inches, so it's not just a small bobble. They just went on and quilted it with that lump of batting running down the center! And there's nothing you can do about it now. This wasn't a "good" quilt or anything, but that kind of sloppiness is inexcusible.

In the past, they had been good at their job. But, several years ago, they screwed up a couple of quilts of mine, and I had stopped using them. The business changed hands last year and their quality had returned. Evidently, not anymore. Well, strike them from the list. I'm calling the owner and he's getting a piece of my mind tomorrow.

Still not sewing

Not one stitch. No use posting a photo of the dragonfly project because it hasn't progressed an iota. Someday........

In the meantime, house stuff still occupies my mind. We have been driving some more, evaluating new developments and existing houses on the market - and haven't seen any possibilities. You can modify any house for barrier-free accessibiliy, but that has unwanted side effects, like losing the use of one garage stall for a ramp, or uprooting all the landscaping to add a ramp at the front door. It's better to start with a house that has few barriers, a seemingly impossible proposition here.

We are still toying with the idea of building to suit, and found a second possible location. There's a beautiful new subdivision being put in north of the city, on a side road that's just about two miles from a major intersection, but secluded enough so that you feel like you're in the country. It's in a little valley snuggled up against Walden Ridge and used to be a big pasture, I'm sure. The ground is flat enough to build a slab construction house, and the lots are large enough to use for a one level home. There's barely a dozen houses in various stages of construction, probably less than 10% of the lots, so building will go on for years in there (a minus, in my book). It's a lovely spot, and would be a peaceful place to live without getting too far out of town. But I keep hearing horror stories about working with builders. Everytime I think about contracting to build a house, my stomach hurts.

I got a few estimates on the changes we would have to do to the house we have if we stayed. Just about exactly what I figured they would be. Just once I wish I would get a surprise - "Oh, no, ma'am, it won't cost NEARLY that much for windows" - but no such luck. Too well informed. I know the bad news before they say it!

On Thursday we will have a second meeting with a trusted realtor, who is working up an appraisal of our house. He walked through last Saturday and looked at the property, and is doing the comps now. I trust his opinion, so what he comes up with for a sale price for this place is a number I can use in my decision making. We already got a low-ball number from the realtor who works with the builder we met last week (Mr. "My Houses Cost the Sun and Moon"). I knew when she said it that it was a price at which she could unload the place quickly, but not its true value. Even so, the difference between the two estimates won't be more than $30K or so. That's beans compared to new construction cost.

I know, I'm whining. Dear readers, you may have to put up with it for a little while longer. A blog is a great place to "think out loud".