Tuesday's Orts on Wednesday

Bad blogger!  Sorry so long between posts, but I hope you enjoy these.  Orts--bits and scraps of thoughts and events that land here semi-regularly. 

• Daughter Erica was here for a week from Arizona, had a job interview, and got the job.  As she was running up the stairs again after forgetting something, I mentioned how handy teleportation would be to avoid the climb.  She agreed, wishing there was such a thing because then she also wouldn't have to deal with moving back home for the new job (with her two cats!)
• A co-worker who is pregnant was sitting at the break room table, leaning forward working on some papers, when suddenly she groaned and had to sit back, clutching her ribs where a well-aimed kick was paining her.  She tried to lean forward again with the same result.  "Nope", she said as she sat back again, "She's hungry and wants to eat".  We chatted about baby weight gain and then I quoted her my favorite line in a Dave Barry book about pregnancy and eating for two.  He wrote, "Some women act like the other person they are eating for is Orson Welles".  She laughed, but the two early-20-somethings at the table had no clue who that was.
• Some of you may recall Bear, my dad's small blue companion.  I received a text from my mom last weekend wherein she told my dad she needed Bear's help, but Dad replied that Bear couldn't help her right then because he had a migraine.  Daughter Elaine's comment:  Bear needs some Excedrin.  Oh, brother!
•  Our aging backyard fence has so far kept out dogs from neighboring yards, but we did have something that got through: 

Pretty healthy looking nectarine, wouldn't you say?

• Remember the gate I spied on my morning constitutional, the one with the rubber duckies?  Well, now it has red potatoes on the spikes.

 I'm betting this will be a rather temporary effort!

Tuesday's Orts

The Orts--bits and scraps of thoughts and events that land here semi-regularly...

• You know it is time to schedule an eye exam when you have to start using a rubber band around your glasses case to hold it closed.
• A nearby deli I frequent for lunch asks for a name when you order, and to keep it simple I usually just say "Ann".  The clerk was embarrassed she didn't remember my name one day and I told her it was too plain and I maybe I should make it "Angelique" or something else unusual.  But I'd be afraid I would forget what it was and not hear my order being called!
• Basketball is my favorite sport to watch on TV.  One of the nicest things about it is the lack of spitting. Have you watched spitbaseball lately? It can't possibly be necessary to spit that often.
• Traffic rant:  Of the pedestrian kind.  I resent having to move out of the way of bicyclists riding on the sidewalk instead of in the street's marked bike lane which is only eight feet away. Especially when they are riding on the wrong side of the street. Grr.
• A rare fish was captured on my camera  last week.  I've been waiting for it to reappear since first catching a glimpse a month or two ago. 

This Land Shark cruises the city streets with the guide on a microphone describing the landmarks.  The riders sometimes seem a bit embarrassed by their bus but obviously they got on it themselves!

Design Wall Monday--June 17, 2013

On my design surface this Monday are some of the finished blocks for Aunt Reen's Place Jelly Roll  Sew Along. 

We'll find out on Wednesday what the layout is actually supposed to look like, but I played a bit with my completed blocks to see how the colors show.  Seems pretty busy looking at the moment but once all the blocks are made I think there will be more cohesion with the colors--lots more green and blue in the pile yet to be sewn.

I see a lot of color on my walks from the office and one plant has intrigued me for several months.  I have no idea what it is but always enjoy looking at it.

The fat blue-purple berries are very enticing, but the plant also has vicious thorns as well.  This stalk is about four feet or so tall, and the berries smaller than grapes.  Pretty weird, isn't it?

See more design walls on Judy's Patchwork Times.

JRSA progress

That means "Jelly Roll Sew Along", on Aunt Reen's Place, and I've started with the chain piecing.

I do like to sit and sew!  There is a whole box full of cut pieces awaiting their turn. Seems there is a bit of a purple theme in this set.  Concidentally, purple is everywhere around here.

Jacaranda trees all over Southern California are in full bloom.  They are so pretty, especially on the "June Gloom" days so frequent here on the coast.  It has been misting quite heavily most mornings and some days the marine layer doesn't break up until mid to late afternoon.  So be warned if you come to So Cal in June expecting great beach weather--unless you are looking for an escape from the inland heat--you will need sweatshirts!

They are pretty messy, though!  Look at the trunk of that car :)

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Design Wall Monday--June 10, 2013

Wow, the first third of the month went by fast!  This week on my design surface are pieces and parts for Aunt Reen's Place Jelly Roll Sew Along.  I used my GO! cutter to do the 360 background squares, fan folding and cross-cutting my just cut 2 1/2" strips.  It sure is a time saver, and I think worth the small amount of fabric waste.  Aunt Reen's cutting directions for the jelly roll included sorting them into combos of three and then sub-cutting into rectangles, but with the jelly roll strips opened full length. 

 Above are the combos I assembled.  Lots of blues and greens and purples mixed with neutrals.

Then I stacked them and cut the rectangles in multiples all at once.  This was taking a risk, given my history of miscutting in the past, but it all turned out just fine this time :)  

It is always so interesting to see how the fabric changes once you cut into it, isn't it?  I'm all ready for the next clue on Wednesday and am looking forward to getting started on the piecing!  See more design walls on Judy's Patchwork Times.

Jelly Roll Sew-Along

I happened across Aunt Reen's Place Jelly Roll Sew-Along and felt her simple and intriguing setting was a great way to use a jelly roll that's been hanging out in the stash drawer a while (being hoarded is more like it!).

 

My mom and dad brought me back this Civil Warm Homefront jelly roll from Wyoming--even getting the shop owner to sign a copy of the Sampler Magazine for me.  That was two years ago!  But, then I got thinking about getting started on a quilt for a family member's wedding later this year.  Of course, being young folks, I felt a more modern fabric palette was necessary.  Plus I really liked Aunt Reen's choice of batiks.  I remembered some precut batik strips that Mary sent me a few months ago as packing around some Accuquilt dies I bought in her sale. Unfortunately, there were not enough strips for the Sew-Along project, so a shopping trip was necessary.  Poor me, right?

The colors are not quite true in this pic--the cloudy day didn't help--but the loose strips are quite neutral browns and tans.  I chose a Bali Pop that had greens and blues and will mix in just a few of the purples and pinks--don't want to scare away the groom with too many girly colors, you know :)  A length of creamy Moda Marbles for the background and a leftover 1/2 yard of green batik for the binding completes the raw materials.  I'm all set to get cutting and will be using my GO! for the background squares.  I've successfully crosscut strips before and know the cutter will make quick work of the dozens needed.  Looking forward to some piecing time once the next step is posted next week.  Linking up...

Thursday Quote

Motto for the Ages--scratched into cement 

on a Santa Barbara sidewalk...

Design Wall Monday--June 3, 2013

I did finally get the borders for the Greenpiece quilt stitched together, the pieces and parts which I showed last week.  I seem to be continually distracted from any worthwhile chunks of stitching time.  It really should not have taken so long!  

The color is way off in this photo, but there was a minimum of unsewing and resewing points and for that I'm thankful!  Not that there is a quilt top to stitch these to, as yet.  There are a dozen more wool applique blocks and the medallion center to piece and applique as well.  My projected finish date has changed so many times I cannot even recall it!  But sometime this year I hope this 2009 BOM is on the completed list.  I did pull out a bunch of the partially completed wool applique blocks and did some unstitching of one appliqued leaf after checking a placement photo, but really had no desire to embroider.  So I rummaged through my project bins looking for something to PIECE. 

I remembered this partially finished tablerunner as being in three sections, however when I opened the bin, the center had already been completed. There was even a washed and ironed cream chunk waiting to turn into the borders and triangle ends, so I got busy with that.  These great Frolic prints from Sandy Gervais I won on her blog several years ago and they actually came in  a "Turnover" triangle pack.  I'm not sure they still make that precut.  I cut the Turnover triangles in half to use in this pattern, which is designer Heather Mulder Peterson's Party Time tablerunner from her pattern book, On the Run.  I omitted the appliques, though. This is the second time I've made this tablerunner; my mom got the first one (below) for Mother's Day last year.   

Fabric is Boutique, by Chez Moi

 See more design walls on Judy's Patchwork Times.