More work on the black/red quilt

I fought with my sewing machine throughout the weekend and managed to get some of the quilt done.  However, it got so bad in the end (examples below) that I had to stop.  Luckily, I have a couple of friends who are willing to let me borrow their machines until I finish the project.  Not sure where to go from here with my machine.  I can take it back in for repair or, if I ask Dan nicely enough, maybe eventually get a new, better machine.  Preferably one without a plastic bobbin race.  My first step, regardless, is to see if the repair place has a warranty on their work.

I managed to get a bit of sewing done though the machine would start to pull in fabric and I'd have to clean it out a few times and leave it for a couple hours before it would stop that mess.  And now, no matter what, it does what you see below.

Anyway, I managed to get a little done, mostly sewing the white rows onto the blocks and then the blocks together:

I finished up last night by pinning the outside (and inner) white rows onto the block rows.  After I finish sewing those, I have to do the outer sashing and then I'll start working on the quilt sandwich.  I had hoped to be further along at this point, but my machine had different ideas.

So did this guy:

Other craft stuff I'm working on

I've made a new wreath!  It's simple but I love it.  This one cost about $11, and maybe it looks it, but I really dig that I can make my own.  Now I have to wait impatiently for it to be appropriate to put out a fall-themed wreath.  I'm not 100% sold on the pumpkin but it needed "something".

I've also been working on a lot of bows.  I wanted Lauren to have some bows that would match her school uniforms (and yes, I was hoping some other moms would notice and inquire about who made them!) plus I wanted to make some University of Michigan so she's all set for the new season. :)  I was also asked by my dear friend Michelle to make a bow to match one of her daughter's dresses.  Here are some photos of the end results:

Lauren's school bows

 

Dress bow

Yep, I bought a Renaissance Faire costume.

This isn't a post about crafting or fish, or even the kids, but definitely something that goes with the motivation of this blog as I clearly chose to, once again, "jump in with both feet".

Yesterday we went to the Renaissance Faire for what is turning out to be a yearly tradition.  Because we didn't know about it last year and regretted not going, we bee-lined for the pub crawl tickets first thing.  The pub crawl was fantastic (and hilarious) and will keep me going yearly to the Faire.

The guys kept joking throughout the day about having us gals try on and buy matching corsets.  I figured it would be worth trying one on as I never had before and honestly, I was instantly in love.  I had no idea it would feel so good to wear a corset (with steel boning, no less) and even though I was not happy about spending the money, I had to get it.  BUT, it didn't end there.  Of course not.  No, I had to buy a flouncy top and plaid skirt to go with it.  Now I have to figure out when to wear it and make it worth the cost!  I imagine Halloween would work and, of course, our yearly Faire pub crawl. I imagine even a night out to a concert would work, as long as I didn't have to sit. :D

And now I'm sitting here trying to decide whether to post a picture of me in the outfit, or even to post this at all.  The teasing from my family might be relentless!

Next year, I'm getting a small hat. :)

Work on the quilt has (finally) begun.

I have a lot of catching up to do, which I will do over the course of this weekend (I hope).  I've been working on a lot of smaller projects that, combined with ots of craziness, have delayed work on the quilt.  But today I got back into it in earnest and I hope to dedicate a large part of the holiday weekend working on it.

Anyway, today I worked on ironing and cutting, two things I hated doing until I got my Accuquilt Go.  Though I think I might need to consider investing in a new ironing board.  I still have this one from my university days:

 

Anyway, I thought I would show off the Accuquilt Go a little bit, in case people are interested and not familiar with it. I am a terrible, terrible cutter.  I even attempted to use a rotary cutter and it didn't help me much.  I still have to use it a bit with the Accuquilt, but mostly for prep, and as a result my cuts are MUCH more uniform.

  Step 1: Cut fabric into strips so it can better fit onto the die.

 

Step 2: Arrange strip on the die with the cutting mat.

Step 3: Run it through the cutter

 

And voila!

So here's the end result with that small pile being the only scrap. 

It still took me a couple hours, but I know I made better cutting decisions, had less waste, and managed to get enough done to be prepped for a matching taggie blanket!


So on to the next step, pinning. 

Black/Red Baby Quilt - Phase 1

The two dies I had been waiting for have finally arrived (yay!), which means I can get started with the quilt.  I purchased a 5" charm square and 1 1/2" strip, which I imagine will come into a great deal of use.

So now begins the process of planning the pattern as well as washing and pressing the fabric and cutting all the pieces. My hope is to get it all done by the end of the week so I can start sewing in earnest over the next two weeks.  This quilt will be simple, though more involved and looking more traditionally "quilt-like" than the last.

This fish has nine lives (I hope)!

For his birthday last year, Clark received a fish tank from his Auntie Dano.  She bought him an assortment of fish, including a couple mollies, a couple platys and an emerald catfish.  A few died along the way and we replaced with similar fish.  That was until we had what I like to call: The Great Die-Off.

You see, I knew almost nothing about taking care of fish.  I thought you fed them every day or so, changed the filter every so often and that would be that.  I was obviously wrong. All of the fish, except two, died pretty quickly and horribly over the winter from fin rot and ich.  Our survivors, who were renamed "Mr. Black" (the black sailfin molly) and "Mr. Cat" (the emerald catfish) went to live in a shamefully tiny hospital tank for a few months while I went about the business of learning how to properly care for these fish who had fought so gallantly for their lives.

They made it through that terrible hospital tank period, but not without many ups and downs.  Mr. Black looked like he wasn't going to make it and I went through such lengths as daily almost complete water changes and epsom salt baths.  He appeared to have swim bladder disease and I was told by many to just kill him or let him die.

But that's not like me at all.

When I finally had a tank ready for them, they were released and crazy, happy healthiness ensued.  I bought friends for them both and eventually set up a second tank that would be tailored specifically for Mr. Black (as the first had been tailored for Mr. Cat).  In the end I decided to keep Mr. Black and Mr. Cat together in the original tank because I just didn't want to put them through any more stress, which I was pretty successful at preventing.

Until today.

This afternoon I was performing my weekly water changes, testing and tank vacuuming.  Clark was helping me out so I was a little distracted.  After vacuuming I went about putting in the new water and after my second bucket, noticed that Clark was playing with the vacuum and there appeared to be something very, very nasty stuck in the tube.

Yep, it was Mr. Black.  He had been stuck in the tube for at least five minutes and I was sure it was the death of him.  I scrambled to put him back in the tank with Clark wailing "You trapped him!  You did this to him!" in the background.  I managed to get him out of the tube and left him swimming in the tank.

So, time will tell if the trauma was too much for him this time.  I really hope it wasn't.  I've done a lot to keep that damn fish alive!

My second quilt is finally in the making.

I have a girlfriend who is due later this year.  She and her husband have decided not to find out the gender but I thought instead of going with typical greens, yellows and oranges, I would try a black, white and red quilt instead.  I bought the fabrics yesterday and I'm SO EXCITED!  I think it will turn out great if I can find the right beginner pattern.  I'm looking forward to getting started.