DesertQuilter-Lisa

The best jewelry is precious but not necessarily "precious"

2011-02-10T19:26:00.005-07:00

Confused? Don't be. I only mean that jewelry delivered from the heart is precious and doesn't need to be of precious metals or stones. Take a look at what was in my mailbox tonight!!

Purchased from and handmade with love by my niece. I told her not to forget the bill. That would be the post-it-note with her math scribbles. 3 pairs of earrings, 2 bracelets and 1 ring. Total for this loot? $1.50

Smile!!

Lisa

Told ya - this is my favorite part

2011-02-09T05:28:00.005-07:00

Rearranging on the design wall - I'm having a blast with these blocks. 3 more layouts for 1/2 square triangles.

I don't know where I'm going at this point - just playing with the light & dark. I actually think I'm going to incorporate some 4-patches into the design as well - now to decide whether the 4-patches will be greens with whites/off-whites or more light/dark greens. I'm leaning toward greens with whites - or maybe blues? I always like blue & green together - feels peaceful. :>

And I sent off that last quilt to its destination earlier this week. It'll arrive the actual day of dad's birthday like maybe it could be argued that I planned it that way instead of it just happened that way. That quilt didn't really have a name, (I'd been calling it the star quilt) but that morning in the shower it "told" me to call it Celebrate. I liked that name. It's appropriate both for the look and the intent.

Have a great day!
Lisa

Finish - and a Start

2011-02-06T19:31:00.007-07:00

I put the binding on my "Stars" quilt this weekend. Started yesterday and finished it up today. This one was pretty quick - and creative. The stars are my own drawing on freezer paper and folded on the cutting line. Works pretty well. And the longarm quilting was free - I won the quarterly drawing with the last quilt I brought up there (they pulled my name out of the hat) - so that was especially awesome since this is a donation quilt. Dad's birthday is next week and I'm sending it along to Fisher Home Hospice House as a small token of thanks for their help three years ago. I'm guessing they'll sell it in their attached store to raise funds because it doesn't seem all that soothing to me. I did make sure to keep it really light, not heavy, so that if they do decide to use it for the patients it won't hurt them. One of the things I learned helping Dad is that toward the end nearly everything hurts, even your skin. Heavy covers can be agony. That may have been just him since he was in so much pain anyway, but I wanted to make sure this was comfortable. It's definitely bright!

So this quilt was finished on Super Bowl Sunday 2011 ... and the one below was started. No pattern - just took my stack of green 6" (ish) squares and paired light & dark, sewed down either side of the center line and cut / pressed / trimmed to 5-1/2" squares. So far I have 2 layouts and I'm undecided. I'll probably keep playing on the design wall (aka carpet) - that's my favorite part!!

Have a great night and thanks for "listening"!

Lisa

My elbow's fixed, my elbow's fixed!

2010-09-16T18:59:00.002-07:00

So hollered (to everyone he passed) our 3-1/2 year old grandson on his way out of the hospital emergency room this afternoon. The emergency care "doc in the box" sent grampa to the ER after saying "I don't have the capability of fixing this." Good grief, poor Grampa. (Oops, and maybe I'm grinning a little too much ....... it appears to be slightly harder for him to babysit without me. Turns out maybe I do most of the work??? Hmmmmm.) ;>

Anyway - grandson has developed a tendency for his elbow to pull out of joint - it has some technical term that I can't remember, but basically the description is caretaker's elbow. How can a 3 year old have caretaker's elbow ???? Grampa said the nurse was really slick about it - played with his fingers and his wrist, and surreptitiously got a grip on his forearm and behind his upper arm, rolled him over and popped it right back into place in one move. After a few minutes, Michael decided he was thrilled and announced to everyone on the way out the door that his elbow was fixed. Grampa said he was pretty cute.

No sewing news.......except that I've drawn a basic design for the pillow cases for my last quilt - haven't had much time to devote to sewing this week, but I hold out hope for soon. We'll see.

Lisa

It's done....

2010-09-13T19:44:00.008-07:00

So, the "Summer 2010" huge quilt is finished. Well, nearly. Still have the label to put on - design, figure out what I want to say, figure out what I'm printing it on, print, hope it works, sew on, etc. Ya know, that.

The longarmer said a couple of weeks - well, it was actually just a couple of days. I was thrilled! Dropped it off one Saturday and picked it up the next. How cool is that? Even cooler? I still have 8 weeks before the giftee's birthday arrives.

We did a variegated pink-purple-red thread for both top & bottom threads, and an edge-to-edge feather meander pattern. Simple pattern that I really liked. I was a little unsure of how the colored thread would look on the black back, but I like that too. I like the idea that it's reversible too, 2 quilts in one. I just like it all! ;)

This was a fun project for me .... kinda long, but that's ok. I'm getting better at enjoying the process and not necessarily finishing now. Patience. I've heard it's a virtue. The challenge for me is to keep focusing on each section while I'm working it and doing the best job I can. NOT rushing through to get to the end. This is a recent achievement ..... well, not quite a completely learned skill yet, but I'm workin' on it.

I got the binding made and sewed on yesterday. I was very careful to keep it lined up and my seam a consistent 3/8". That was a l-o-n-g day at the sewing machine ....... nearly 33 feet of binding when I did the math in the morning (or 2/3 yard - 33 feet sounded horrible!!). Like a good little New England born and bred saver, I was able to use the black that I trimmed off the back when I squared it up after quilting. I still have 4 or so feet left. Maybe I can use that on the pillowcases!

And finally, here's some pics of the finished project. I think if you click on them they should open up in a larger window so you can see the detail.

Have a great week!

Lisa

a weekend finish - yippee!!

2010-08-08T18:12:00.010-07:00

Got all the borders on both the top & the back this weekend. This thing is HUGE - it takes forever to sew a border on. I think this will be the last queen size quilt for a while.......I'm ready for something a little smaller. I like admiring the finished product! Tee hee.

Neither the wind nor the sun was cooperating this morning. I actually took video of the quilt top swaying in the breeze. The photos are only of portions.

Looking through the back from the porch - looks like stained glass!! Kinda cool I thought.

The sun. Blinding.

Here's the back. That piece of pink trim in the middle? That's at 54" x 54".

Next step for this is to buy a room size (oops I mean queen-size) piece of batting and bring it up to the longarmer. The last quilt I had professionally done, I sent away to a husband/wife team in NC. Both their web site and blog are down, so I'm thinking I'd better keep this one a little closer to home this time. At least I can drive up there if I need to. Plus it's in a higher elevation which means cooler territory - never a bad thing in the middle of a desert summer. Maybe I can somehow make a full day out of delivering it next weekend? ;>

So glad this one's nearly on the finished pile. Just quilting and binding to do. Oh yeah, and make a couple of matching pillowcases with the scraps.

Have a great week!!

Lisa

Decided to see if I could upload a video........here's one of the reasons why there's no full-view photo. This is what I was working against this morning. Oh well.

Yay! It's raining ... and a progress report

2010-07-22T18:43:00.005-07:00

Hurray .... it's finally raining! Thinking about it on the drive into work this morning, I realized that I knew how to make it rain. All I had to do was wash my car! I actually didn't find time to wash the car today but the clouds finally got heavy enough to let some out anyway. Even without my help. I'm thrilled. We've needed it.

I made good progress this week on the back of the Pick & Choose - got the blocks ironed, trimmed, & sewed together. I found a fairly large piece of black for the first border in my stash. It was big enough to make borders for all 4 sides as long as I did cornerstones. Now THAT was some careful cutting --- had to determine how much usable fabric I had in that piece after straightening then I divided by 4 to learn how wide the border was going to be! ;) Hurray, it worked. Now to decide on the final borders for the top (and back too actually). Queen size is pretty large and I'm not there yet.

I also did a little shopping this week. Mama Spark is cleaning up a little, and I was excited to make a new home for a few greens.....they came yesterday. Squishy mail, so fun!

Now I just need to figure out what I'm gonna use them for. :>

Have a great day!
Lisa

Progress during the week

2010-07-17T09:01:00.007-07:00

So I've managed to make some progress this week on the back for Pick & Choose. Didn't figure out what the borders would be for the top, but got the back center pieced and laid out and rearranged a time or two.

This is where I started with the layout

But that seemed sort of blah, so after continued playing I came to this ...

Which was pretty cool I thought, then I just moved a few blocks to "improve" the layout. I even unsewed 4 blocks to get darker centers there so the design would show better, and I unsew only under duress!! I hate it, but I have to admit I like the layout much better after so I suppose I'll have to be willing to frog stitch once in a while. Sigh.

So that's the progress made this week. I'm hoping to get these all starched & ironed & trimmed to size over the weekend among the other chores, and then the plan (such as it is) is to get these sewn together mornings next week. A plan. We'll see.

Have a great weekend!
Lisa

Oops, and I just walked past the design wall and rearranged again! Maybe this is it! ;>

Well.....sorta sooner than 5 months!

2010-07-09T18:11:00.006-07:00

Bernie ... thank you! for nudging me. Sometimes I get SO busy scurrying along handling life I forget to document. Or too tired to maybe. Anyway!

Rundown of the last 4 months ... visit around Easter with our daughter & 2 year old grandson from Virginia for a week. THAT was a blast. We had all the kids & grandkids together and took them camping up north in Williams for a long weekend trip. Visited the Grand Canyon on an absolutely perfect day and came back to the campground for slightly burnt but still wonderful fried turkey with all the picnic trimmings.

Our version of the "family tree" sans the two boys who stayed home for the weekend to work. That's our 3 girls, 2 grandsons and 1 "acquired" son (boyfriend). Wow.

Ice cream break, shared VERY nicely between the 3 year old and the 2 year old grandsons. How cool! Notice the leashes.....that got more comments from passersby than I expected. And everybody was in favor. From previous visits, we knew there are NO guard rails or anything at the canyon. You can walk (or fall) right up to the edge. Grampa and I decided that neither of us felt up to rappelling down the side of the canyon to rescue a kid, so we made that the rule. As soon as we parked, we dressed the boys in their new leashes and that was it. That stays on til we get back to the car. Want some watered down juice and a baggie of dry cereal? ;) They were fine with it.

Hosted both Mother's Day and Father's Day at our house. About 20 or so assorted family members at each. They like our house because the floor plan is fairly open which allows multiple discussions to happen without being complete chaos, plus there's an acre for the kids to "discover" so it keeps them pretty occupied and out from underfoot. And I suppose, given the choice, most folks would rather just bring a couple half gallons of juice and a box of donuts or something similar and not have to plan the menu and make sure there's enough food, napkins, plates, etc and the house is clean! And I have help here to make sure that all happens so it works.

In the quilting world, I've nearly finished the pink & black batik Pick & Choose top and have started on the back. Actually, I'm at a stopping point for the top because I've decided not to follow the pattern necessarily for the borders, but I'm not sure what to do instead. I know that I'm making this for a queen size bed with a deep mattress and it will need to end up somewhere in the neighborhood of 75-90 wide x 100-110 long. And I know that I want to do a couple of borders, and perhaps incorporate some applique (new to me) but I haven't decided exactly.

So.......the back will be pieced as well with Drunkard's Path blocks in blacks & whites and I've gotten those cut out. Theoretically this will be a reversible quilt, a 2 for 1. Worked on cutting a little each morning this week and now they're ready to piece. I won't have a chance this weekend though because we've decided to drive away on the motorcycle to cooler territory. Which means north in this state, probably up above 6-7000 feet elevation where the daily temp will be closer to 80-85 instead of 110-115. Yikes it's hot!!!

This was taken with my cell phone, so it's a little muddy. This is the top so far, it's at 64 x 64 now (or 68 x 68 I can't remember for sure and I took it down off the design wall this week because my daughter was arriving and it's a surprise for her).

Again, thank you Bernie for nudging me......I do need to post more often. And I
suppose I did get it in under the 5 month wire so that must count for something.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Lisa

I'm still ok....

2010-03-06T17:54:00.005-07:00

But it's been a while, hmm? I've been sewing and crocheting and living. The living part is taking up some time though. ;)

In my defense, I've been busy with more than just work. A couple of weeks ago, I flew home to be the "Best Man" in my brother's wedding. He said, "come on Lis, it's the new thing, you'll be cool". That was without a doubt the best wedding I've ever been to, I had so much fun, my brother and his new wife had so much fun, ALL the guests had fun. Smallish number of people, nice facility, great food and music, and it all combined to be a perfect wedding. And just to put the cherry on top, the dress I wore that was slightly tight a couple of weeks before was slightly loose on this day so I was actually comfortable. Not sure how that happened, it was not a plan. Oh, oh, oh, and I found a really great station on the radio and sang all the way back on the 200 mile drive to my grandmother's that night - arriving at 2am not even tired. It was a perfect day.

Remember the Pick & Choose quilt on the front cover of the June 09 American Patchwork & Quilting mag? I've started one. For my daughter. I have batiks in my stash - nearly all batiks. And nearly zero white/beige/tan fabrics. My daughter wears a lot of pink & black together and it looks really good on her, so using that as my inspiration, my backgrounds will be blacks to grey, and the foreground pinks, purples, and reds to oranges. I'm having fun with it, but it will probably take me quite a while. I have a few done, but the colors in the photo below are not quite right. The pic came out pretty orangey, but you'll get the idea.

I'll close for now....the lasagne is smelling great! and I'm gettin' hungry. And I'll try to post a little more often than once every 5 months.

Lisa

She's ok.....

2009-10-29T19:21:00.002-07:00

She's ok (in a loud sing-song voice). That's a line from a comedienne's skit that I listened to one night probably about 4 months ago on my way home from work. I have a fairly long and very busy commute - the comedy channel once in a while is a great way to just drive --- and not feel the need to just drive over everyone in my way!! Anyway, this lady was talking about not having a clue about home improvement projects but going to Home Depot, coming home and trying to help with the project and somehow gluing the cat's tail to her back, the cat squalled and she hollered she's okaa-aa-aayyy to the other room. For some reason, that just struck me funny and I use that line a lot. I wish I could remember her name!

I've been blog-silent over here in the desert for the last couple of months. The shop has been busy, but I think it's mainly just one of those times when I can't get out of my own way! Overwhelmed with all of it and would rather just read a book and escape into someone else's world for a while! ;) I have been quilting a little but I'm at a stopping point on my blue-green batik while I figure out what's going to make the borders work. In the meantime, it's "looking at me" from the dining room table. FMQ is really new to me and while I'm improving, it's certainly not show quality. I'm not even sure it's living room couch quality! Nahh, it'll be all right, I just need to do it and stop worrying about it I'm sure!

The two Priority quilts I sent to Alzquilts.org went to Houston and one sold. How exciting, that was pretty cool! I'm gonna do a couple more I think.

Probably what I really need is to make time for sewing -- I've been letting other things take precedence and haven't been sewing much at all. It makes a difference for me and I need to "just do it". I'll get started on that and the next post will have "finish" pictures!

Have a great night!!
Lisa

Present for a girlfriend

2009-07-26T07:07:00.003-07:00

My husband's girlfriend that is ..... and don't get concerned; she's 82, a real sweetie, and in the hospital with something serious and needs a little pick-me-up. As a carpenter, he's always in some other woman's kitchen making it nice for her. Every once in a while he finds a keeper to go on the "girlfriend" list and they become part of our family. He even picked out the pattern for this table topper while sitting patiently (or not so patiently) in the LQS last Saturday afternoon.

For something fairly simple, the pattern instructions were unclear and required a lot of thought to figure out what the instructions really "meant". I checked, it was written in 1998. You would think that sometime in the past 11 years someone with no prior knowledge would have tried the pattern and discovered the problem. Ah well, it was good for a puzzle and I like the way it turned out.

I'll send this out with him tomorrow morning to deliver - hope she likes it!

Take care all,

Lisa

I'm melting here ...

2009-07-16T17:43:00.002-07:00

It's h-o-t, and I'm whiny! At 6pm tonight it's still 112 outside and mornings the temp at 6am is usually 90-93. And yes, I know I live in the desert and should be used to it, but man it's really hot here July-September (and some years into October). If you're visiting AZ in the summer, know that you need to sip water all day every day to avoid dehydration (which can really make you sick). We had a couple of extra weeks this year of 90-99 so I'm thinking I might have gotten a little spoiled. Oddly enough, 90-99 is really fairly comfortable! And I'd like a little rain please. Only here does rain cause everyone to run outside and stand in it with their faces up and arms out drinking it in. I wanna stand in the rain!

'nuff of the weather report ............

The good news is that since I can't do much outside without burning up, indoor projects are making progress. Well, except that HUGE "file pile" that's balanced precariously on top of the file cabinet in the laundry room. I'll have to be in exactly the right mood to tackle that one!

On a quilty note, I've sent the Priority quilts to their destination, and I'm nearly done with the quilting on the green batik. Sorry no photos this time, my camera is at the shop. I don't have a new project picked out either, but I'll choose one in the next few days. I'd really like to do the Pick & Choose that Nancy and Erin and others are doing, but I can't seem to find that issue!! I know I took it with me to Mom's several weeks ago ... maybe I left it up there? It's all good .... just another opportunity to look through my quilting magazines and pattern books. Hurray!

Here's hoping your worlds are a little cooler than mine and it will rain here soon (I've never actually wished for rain in my life!)

Take care all,
Lisa

I'm still here ...

2009-07-08T18:50:00.008-07:00

Hi all,

Whew! It's been a couple of weeks since my last post 'cuz I've been so busy. Work is busy, we had family for the long holiday weekend, and we got to hang out with our 2 year old grandson for the last 5 days. I'd almost forgotten how much you don't accomplish with a 2 year old around. However, it is fun! How can you not play when this face wakes you up every morning?

But I did get a few things in my quilting world accomplished too. I've got the blue/green batik layered and have started the quilting. It's currently on the dining room table mid-stitch. And I finished up a couple of small Priority quilts for Alzheimer's Quilts. These were quick and fun, plus I got to try a couple of new things and get relatively quick results.

To honor my uncle, the carpenter, and who has had Alzheimer's for nearly 10 years now, the first one is 2 Carpenter's Square blocks that I found on Quilterscache.com. This traditional pattern calls for 1-1/2" strips and a finished 11" block. Priority quilts can be no larger than 9x12, so I changed the strip size to 1/2" thinking that I'd only be reducing the block size by a third. Well, no, not really. 1-1/2" unfinished produces a finished 1" strip and a 1" unfinished becomes a finished 1/2" strip, which is really cutting the block size in half. I ended up with 5-1/2" blocks. No biggie, I'll just make 2. It's a little wonky in the borders because the strips required such exact seam allowances to make them work properly and I was tired of unsewing so I just let it go. I figured Alzheimer's can make life a little wonky, why not this?

The 2nd is to honor my aunt, his caregiver. There was no pattern for this one, but I used (sort of) Ricky Tim's convergence technique and Circle Dance templates and made a sun in the sky. Not sure what to title this one yet, but I'll have to figure that out before I email Ami 'cuz its on the form you have to fill out. ;)

Hope all is well in your worlds ...

Lisa

Whaddya think?

2009-06-23T06:32:00.009-07:00

I've been trying to decide whether or not to incorporate some silhouette images appliqued onto this top, so I brought it outside this morning with the back to hang off my trusty porch railing to photograph. Sometimes a picture helps you "see".

Since there is no looming deadline and actually no intended recipient for this one, I thought I might try another new-to-me technique. That tiny blue pin-stripe between the top & the border was fun (and easy!) and I really like how it separates the two. I've seen some really pretty silhouettes incorporated in other's work and thought this might be the project for it.

But after looking at these photos, I think I'm going to leave it as is. Silhouettes would just add a whole level of busy-ness that isn't needed. This will probably end up being a throw for someone's couch - I think it needs to be comforting.

What do you think?

Lisa

Happy Father's Day, Dad

2009-06-22T05:57:00.006-07:00

Dad was a fun father - he taught us how to play while getting the work done (singing r-a-g-g m-o-p-p while mopping the floor) and play while spending almost nothing, and instilled in us a love of love of music and nature and craftmanship. Dad's been gone since December 2007 and I miss him. He did a long 3-year battle with prostate cancer that was diagnosed too late. Men!! Get regular prostate checkups - it's not too big of a deal caught early. Save your family some heart-ache. Ok, there's my commercial.

Anyway, I have been lucky and have 2 dads in my life, so yesterday my husband, kids & I journeyed nearly 200 miles one-way to see my step-dad with the car loaded with a repaired dishwasher for him and a cooler full of food for brunch. We only had 2 kids in the car with us but they provided excellent entertainment. We spent much of the drive time reminiscing about the "old days" when we would travel with all 5. Those were the days....there wasn't quite as much laughing when they were younger and we were a brand new family struggling to mesh. In fact, those rides could be quite grouchy!

No sewing yesterday, but I did work on planning my next project during the drive. I want to do a couple of Priority quilts to honor my uncle (dad's brother) who is battling Alzheimer's. Recently, I bought 2 copies of Forgetting Piece by Piece and sent one to my aunt and kept the other for myself. The art is beautiful and the story accompanying each piece incredibly moving. The quilts I send will be auctioned off and the proceeds donated to research to find a cure for this disease.

No pix today --- brought the camera yesterday and never took it out of the bag!

Have a great day all!
Lisa

An Intro

2009-06-19T18:57:00.007-07:00

Hello all - I'm moving to blogger from my old quilt blogging site - and looking forward to it. I spend way more time than I should online reading other's blogs and have decided to take the blogger plunge myself.

Quilting for me is rapidly becoming both passion and relaxation. It's an excellent outlet for my creative side and totally different than my daily life. A quick bio .... I'm married to an awesome man, we have 5 kids and the 2 oldest daughters have given us a grandchild each (both boys - 2-1/2 years old and 1 year old), we live in Arizona and I own an offroad performance & repair shop with my brother and most days I wonder how the heck I got from the dressed-for-success corporate Information Technology world to performance parts that are never in stock when you need them, grease & oil under my nails always, race fuel perfume and metal chips & dirt everywhere but whatevah! it's fun most of the time and it's certainly different every day. No boredom for me!

My mom taught me to sew early, and then I learned more as a girl in 4H - and I remember I learned the Importance of Ironing (must have caps and bold) while struggling to set the orange cotton cap sleeves on a brown knit top (could it have been the 70's?) for a back to school outfit. Mom was busy with someone's hair so she sent me up the street to Mrs. Page with my thread and my pattern pieces and my one straggly raggedy looking cap sleeve already set. After taking a look, the FIRST THING Mrs. Page did was plug in her iron and iron everything. In my 11-year-old mind, that was NOT the first step, but I did not tell her so - it wouldn't have been polite and I really needed her help badly. Her sleeve set perfectly - and it was so obviously the ironing that made the difference. She taught me a lot without saying a word. I think of that once in a while when I drag the iron and board out .... so thank you Mrs. Page.

I've been quilting for a few years - mainly because Mom spoke longingly of getting back into quilting so many times I kind of railroaded her into taking a class (signed her up, called her up and said THIS is what you're doing Thursday - life is short - take care of you too) and she had so much fun she talked me into going to the next one with her. We usually try to go to a couple of classes together a year, and we have so much fun when we go. Giggling is good for your soul. As is chocolate. And cheesecake. Oooh, and danish pastry. 'kay, 'nuff of that!

The photo at the top is part of the 1st king-size quilt I ever made, and 2 years after I finished the top, it went on our bed for the first time yesterday morning. Long story and not all that interesting. ;)

I'm currently working on this Turning Twenty in a range of blue & green batiks. This is an old photo - the top is now finished, and I'm working on designing/piecing the back.

Quick intro? Not very. Must have needed to "chat". Thanks for listening.
Lisa