Back Flimsy Finished for Scatty Stars

After much deliberation and should have checked twice math ordeals, such as counting the number of pink monkey squares in the purple and monkey border, and then saying but half is one color and half is another so I only need to cut 15 of each, instead of 30 of each.  Or how the quilt oddly grew a single inch in both directions after I figured out that border and had it all pieced.  I'm glad to say the Scatty Stars quilt back is all finished.  I do like the way the gradient of pink tones show through the borders of color.  The dark pink on the outside will also be the binding for this as well as the baby clothes memory quilt I have in the quilt frame right now.

So here it is a detail of the borders as well as both the top and bottom flimsies folded together.  This is sure to be one cuddly quilt when I've quilted it.  As I was thinking about the quilting last night when DD and I shared dinner together, DD told me I should quilt Zinnia's on it.  DD and DH planted some Zinnias last week and they have come up with a passion.  I'm not sure how to freemotion Zinnias in a way that will give me the all over panto feel I was wanting for this quilt.  I did think that I could quilt Zinnias into the rail fence blocks as though they are blooms, but I'm concerned to much quilting dense quilting such as the Zinnia flowers would cause the quilt to loose some of it's cuddle factor.  I always worry about that a little, and of course I love the finished project but standing here I'm just not sure how to proceed.  I have some time to think about it as I need to finish the Baby Clothes Quilt before anything else can go on the frame.

It's the last day of the weekend but it feels like the first.  Constant bursts of heat lightning kept me awake past when I would have normally gone to sleep.  Heat lightning is wonderful amazing even, when you're 20 and on a date, but when you're trying to sleep and keep seeing flashes through your eye lids it's less than desirable.

Hurricane Irene has made landfall and as her feeder bands have been splashing rain on and off I'm inclined to say the heat lightning is a byproduct of her mess.  I am very grateful that all my loved ones are safe and sound while my heart goes out to those others who have lost theirs in this awful time of need.  Those of us that have lived through Hurricanes and come out the other side a bit more broken than we would have liked - our thoughts and prayers are with you.

What a week!

I'm only just getting around to washing the getaway laundry as it's Spring Break so it's been kid central lately. It's quiet for the moment as one is playing Animal Crossing and two are eating rice krisies treats (the special Easter ones with Chocolate and Sprinkles). Oh before I forget they taste better if you only dip them in the chocolate and skip the sprinkles.

My allergies are going crazy and I fear I'm allergic to one of the pretty girlie things I picked up from Basin and White. It's bad enough today I want to hide it all away.

I played with quilt blocks last night. The cats look awesome lined up on either side of the quilt. But still no layout. I even rounded up all the block sampler blocks as well as all of my orphan blocks, but still nothing. I have to keep the cats for myself as the button eyes are choking hazards. All but two kitties came with the eyes already on which is really cool. It's nice to see how different people can express themselves with a simple thing like buttons.

Before I left I packed up the sewing machine. It's always my fear that Sunny will have a dunce moment and end up forcing it off the kitchen table and onto the floor. So far that hasn't happened, but... The poor machine has now been packed away for a week! Eeegads no wonder I feel like a tea bag in a batch of over brewed tea (yuck).

The good news is that the fire has not flared up or smoked since before I left, so at least the house is safe for now.

Have you been feeling the cold snap? We certainly have. Right about the time it was so hot I wanted the ac on (the day I arrived home) snap cold. Some parts of Florida even had freeze warnings. Not sure how that worked out for them.

Let them Eat!

I know how to clean foam shoes! The foam shoes you can pick up just about anywhere are great. They look nice, they feel okay and if you're exceptional your feet never stink. If you're like the rest of us you know better. After a month or more those wonderful comfy shoes begin to show wear. They clean off okay at first but eventually you're looking at those shoes thinking okay it's time to go to Walmart for another pair. But they still fit and you're not really ready to shell out more cash even if they are inexpensive.

Here's the answer. Simply wet the shoes as you normally would to rinse them off. Now apply a bit of hand soap or dish soap (they seem to work equally well) rub the soap over the shoe but don't create a lather, instead merely lubricate the shoe. Now using a Magic Eraser rub those wear spots, rub any discolored area and you will find in just a minute or two they are back to looking good again. Allow to dry and you're good to go. I hope you enjoyed the tip.

April is here and I'm glad to see it. My passion vines are covered in caterpillars and I'm thrilled about it. Back when the vine was in a pot it was a constant battle with these little bugs, but at the advice of a good friend I planted the plant in the ground and now the passion vine and the caterpillars have a nice co-relationship going on. The caterpillars will turn into Gulf Frivolities, which are a joy and a wonder to have around so we let them be. Number like these you see will soon have my hard filled with butterflies. Personally I'm amazed with as many caterpillars nearly ready to cocoon as there are that you can't see any damage to the passion vine, (except close up like this) I suppose it just goes to show nature knows best.

My nun orchids also known as Phaius tankervilliae are in full bloom now. I attempted pollination today. I'll let you know how that goes as any viable pods will be donated to Meyer's Conservatory, and of course they sell flasks so those will be available to anyone interested. I'll pass word along as I recieve it.

While outside Jessica noticed a little ladybug. I just love her hand pointing to it. You can click on the photo to see it bigger if you can't see the ladybug. This particular lady is more orange than red. I like the look of her little hand in the photo. (and those dirty foam shoes, oh well they're clean now!)

Every single girl getaway I go on without my husband I break the camera. As a family we're on camera number three. I figure that makes this as good a time as any to figure out some of the extra doodads and other features. This frame reminded me of the movie insignia and I couldn't help but to frame it in with Sunny in the middle. Who knows if I keep at it maybe next time I can catch him in a yawn!

From all of us to each one of you get out and enjoy the beauty of the moment and have a great weekend.

Notice anything New?

I've put a little time into the ole' blog. I like the new look.

WOWSER the Bargello is comming along AMAZINGLY, do you agree? It is all done except for the border and a bit of extra quilting I'd like to put on it. I'm going to take the extra "scraps" from the quilt and make a scrappy binding. A tip I picked up from my new book that DH bought for me "A Quilt for Every Season", by Eleanor Burns. What a lovely book.

Today I made pillow case extenders. I added a bit of fabric to my pillow cases to help them stay on the pillows. If they work half as good as they look I'll be adding them to other pillow cases here very soon.

I have done ALL the embroidered blocks for the Blue Christmas quilt, I want to get a bit further along it before I start showing off photos. All that work leaves the butterfly to embroider on the handle, and those rosebud blocks... UGH. I don't know why but I've become impatient making the same thing over and over. Some would call it soothing, and perhaps someday I will too, but for now it's like "that old thing?" I have to do it again?

And of course we're not talking about the red quilt. It remains in the same state it has been for a month. SHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh..... It's on the UFO Challenge list, I'll get 'er done!

We're having quite a rain storm this afternoon. It's been pouring for about 20 minutes. What a lovely breeze it has brough with it.

Crazy Weather, Dumb Puns, and Little Girl Cute

Okay, so I was wrong about the log cabin block, it only needs five of each color with a center fabric, for a total of eleven. I've now made both that were required.... One big problem. They should measure 12.5", the first one I made was just over 13" (to big). So I adjusted from a scant 1/4" (1/8" on my machine) to a 1/4". The second one I made is a 12", so it's to little! Now I figure I have to adjust my sewing machine 1/16th of an inch to fix my trouble. Yikes!

We're having CRAZY thunderstorms here. You wake up in the morning to a beautiful day, but there is thunder all around that goes on and on, like an upset stomach! Then after clouding over, it will think about rain, sometimes for hours, eventually pour, and around 1pm we were back to pretty sky and upset stomach! But now it's VERY dark (at 2pm) and heavy rain that came up all the sudden. I can't help but shake my head and think it's the Florida rainy season, as they say don't like the weather wait five minutes.

At least we're not in the north and Midwest with all the flooding! It brings to light (as I sit in the light of the pc it's gotten so dark) what my mom told me once, you have to pick the natural disasters you're willing to live with. We get hurricanes and hot temps, It hasn't snowed since before the hail storm in June when I was pregnant with Jessica in 2005! hehee. oh when it rains it pours. Is that two puns in one paragraph? I have to quilt that (oopps I meant quit that). To much typing about quilts I suppose.

Let's see let's have a different note. I love this state. I do, really I do. I love being in a cold grocery store in June and walk out into the HOT (some would say sweltering heat) of the parking lot and the feeling you get as your nose warms back up. I love that even though I'm not quite warm I'll feel like a lizard on a hot rock by the time I get into that hot car.

LOL, did I mention the thermostat on my air conditioner broke? Yep, it either RUNS,'n,RUNS,'n,RUNS, or it's off. Lovely hu? Lucky for me this crazy weather doesn't have it to hot today, though yesterday before we knew what was wrong with the ac it was up over 87 inside when we were putting Jessica to bed.

Now my daughter is a joy. Just yesterday her daddy was giving her trouble about her wanting help in the bathroom, mostly she just wants you to sit there and make sure everything comes out okay, hand her some tp, etc. A big part of the time she doesn't even want you there, just sometimes, it's a comfort thing. So daddy didn't want to supervise the bathroom, and I was busy with who knows what. So he's razzing her to get her to do it alone, when she interrupts him in the most darling voice and says "Daddy, I'm just a little girl!"

I nearly busted a gut right then and there! It makes me want to squeal with delight over her zest! She has more personality than most adults smushed up in her little body.

Oh but wait! There's more. So her daddy gives in and helps her, and says "yes, honey I know you're a little girl." Finished my daughter walks out of the bathroom and runs to me, "daddy called me a little girl!" Oh my, what a world, what a world!