Category Archives: Quilts

My First Foray into FMQ

Weather in the Tries:

MOS (more of same), i.e., hot, hot, hot, sunny, sunny, sunny, more triple-digit days than double-digit days. The really hard part is it doesn’t cool down all that much at night, even the Brave Dog is sleeping on the floor. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough room on the floor for the both of us. The things I sacrifice for my dog.

My first foray into FMQ:
Well, technically, it’s my second foray into Full Motion Quilting on a domestic machine. I took a short journey into FMQ about 25 years ago. Not much of a journey. Not even sure I got more than my big toe wet.

FMQ means one drops the feed dogs on their sewing machine, attach a “hopping foot” (on some machines it hops with each stitch, on others it just sits there and looks at the sewist as s/he moves the fabric back, forth, right, left, anywhere in between. It goes where the sewist wants it to go. Well, it goes where the sewist’s direction pushes/pulls the fabric, which, in my case, is not where I want it to go.

Got my new machine all set up, ready to go, and the presser foot brings the hopping foot too far down, compresses the sandwich, and I can’t move the fabric at all. I managed to do was hold the presser foot up the measure of a gnat’s ankle to knee, and I could move the fabric/sandwich. Alas, I could only move it with one hand and couldn’t guide it.

The sewing machine dr. is out of the office until at least Monday. The Toe dr. comes before machine dr., though.

Why I’m seeing a toe doctor:
When I lived in Albuquerque, I broke one of my toes, twice. At least I think I broke it twice. I broke it once, and about three days later, I broke it again. I think. I taped it, but the tape drove me nuts, so I pulled it off, and wore one of those flat shoes they gave me when I broke my ankle bone. So, my toe healed, and I forgot about it until about 2 years ago when I realized it wasn’t bending like it should. Thomas was alive, and when I told him, he thought I should immediately go to the dr. Yeah. Right. I had enough on my plate, didn’t need to go see a dr. about my index toe (well, whatever the toe right next to the great toe is called). And I forgot it again.

So last fall, it really began to bother me. I had an appt with the podiatrist for my neuropathy, and he looked at the toe. I have a double hammertoe. One part is growing down, and the very end is growing up. He said it would be an easy fix (Note: Definition of minor surgery, don’t you? Yeah, when they cut on someone else). Great, sez I, in your office? I can watch! He heard the question mark, but not the exclamation mark. “No,” said he, “in a surgery center, we’ll put you to sleep. I have to break the toe in two places, and we have to take x-rays.” Uh, no. I’ll shop around some. I mean, wouldn’t it be easier to move my foot if I could help? And if I faint, how far am I gonna fall?

I know. I’m truly weird—and curious. But, isn’t that why you love me?

So, I’m going to see a different dr. today. One who I hope is more reasonable than the other guy. I decided last fall that summer would be the perfect time for this mutilation to my counting-buddy digits. There will be a steel rod placed under the toe for about 6 weeks, and it’s warm enough I can sleep with my foot uncovered. Always thinking, I am.

He shot the OP!
By now, you know the OP has been shot, and is missing, I presume, the top of his right ear. He’s lucky he isn’t missing the top of his head! I wonder if he’ll leave the ear and wear his scar as a battle cry, of if his narcissistic self will have it surgically repaired/replaced before showing it to his adoring followers. Either way, I’m actually glad he survived and didn’t become the Great Martyr for the cult. Wonder if any in the GOP will vote for a ban on assault rifles now?

In the meantime, I think the authorities should refrain from publishing the (alleged) shooter’s ID. If shooters received NO named publicity for their acts, maybe others wouldn’t try to outdo them. We really don’t need to know the name of the shooter. The only thing we use their name for is salacious gossip.

Photos of the Week:
Well, I had hoped to show you my first FMQ pieces, alas y’all gonna have to wait until next week. BUT I can show you the finished top to my friend’s wee quilt. I’ll quilt it when I’m comfortable doing the FMQ. I’ll show you that, too. Someday.

Video of the Week:

A very interesting almost-an-hour video that shows and compares old Japanese homes, and new ones. Interesting differences between Japanese culture and European/American culture. But the architecture is what caught my eye.

Quote of the Week Sent to my a friend.

“If life must not be taken too seriously,

then so neither must death.” ~Samuel Butler

I regret to inform you…

5 Replies

Weather in the Tries:
The highest day will be this coming weekend, in the mid 70s, the lowest is scheduled for tomorrow at 60. Most will be in the upper 60s. The nights will be down to a comfortable low 40s, with a couple in the high 30s. There will be no more three dog nights for a few months.

I regret to inform you…

It is with sadness I tell you, your dearly departed uncle has left you the entirety of his estate valued at xxxxxx amount of Dollars, Pounds Sterling, Won, Yen, Whatever. It has taken us some time to find you, as he left only your name and possible location as you’ve recently moved, and there are several people with your name, and we had to ascertain you are the correct recipient of his vast fortune in currency, jewels, and land. yadda, yadda, and more yadda.

Several years ago, my favorite Brother of Choice Dave, told me how to set my computer so the entire sender email is shown (se below). That has saved me no end of hassle and the possibility of embarrassing loss of funds 😉 And, yes, I have sent it on to Phishing@visa.com

This guy is so bad at this, I almost want to edit his letter and send it back. This is his whole letter:

Solomon Williams jeorgekennedy011@gmail.com

hello

To: undisclosed-recipients:;,

Reply-To: cbi.customerservices10@gmail.com

Attention,
I send you this message previously without hearing from you,
Today we received an appropriate letter from the treasury department of the
Executive Board of Directors to continue with the transfer of his
Fund deposited in our bank. We have established all
transfer documents behind your full amount.

1) Through a VISA CARD based on a personalized PIN with a
maximum withdrawal limit of ($10,000.00 USD) per day till
receive your full amount.

(CBI Customer Service)
[cbi.customerservices10@gmail.com]

Photos of the Week:
First up, a photo of my new bookcase. On the left, nonfiction—top shelf is Native American, in the middle are poetry books in the angled shelves, the top middle is my Morgue, in the right is my fiction. Someday I may have to swap location of fiction for poetry 😉 I buy very little hard copy fiction, but all my poetry is hard copy.

Remember my talking about the quilt for my Sister and Brother of Choice’s pet python? Well, as you and I both know, they don’t have a pet python—they have a furry, and claw-bearing cat who likes to sit on the top of their bed’s headboard to look out the window. Here is a shot of the “python quilt” in its new home. And it has been approved!

And here are their new place mats, with the center piece. I drew a circle around the center of the center sunflower in the center piece and used a pale yellow to radiate out from the circle and continue down into the mats. The radiating rays are a stretched out ‘S.’ I was going to use a nice bright yellow, but the backs, or other side, is a soft sage green, and the brighter yellows did not play well with the softer green. Photos of quilts by my SOC, Lee W.

from the desk of the brave dog;
the sun is coming out more and more every day. my human likes it almost as much as me. the days are warmer, and so are the nights. my human still has a heavy quilt on my bed, woof—our bed. but it won’t be long before she will put a summer quilt on it. and then just a sheet. oh, hot weather comes. bark, bark, bark… my human won’t want 2 more dogs to share my, woof, our bed.

Earworm of the week:
woke this morning (Sunday) with Ghost Riders in the Sky by Sons of the Pioneers. Talk about an earworm. And Roy Rogers was still with them at the time. I remember that song from when I was a step above being a toddler. My folks played it over and over. Was I dreaming of them? I don’t know, but my first conscious thought was “Yippee kai yay, yippee kai yo ghost riders in the sky.”

And a quote or two on this national day of poverty, courtesy of romper :

“Isn’t it appropriate that the month of the tax begins with April Fool’s Day and ends with cries of May Day?” — Robert Knauerhase
“Death, taxes, and childbirth! There’s never any convenient time for any of them.” ― Margaret Mitchell
“The income tax has made liars out of more Americans than golf.” ― Will Rogers

Didn’t we vote to stay on one time???

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Weather in the Tries:
OMG! We’re only going to have ONE night of 32F temps, and all our daytime highs will be high 50s and even high 60s. Oh, be still my beating heart! Uh, no, don’t be still, but, well, you surely know what I mean, doncha?

Didn’t we vote to stay on one time???
I think we did, unfortunately, we voted to stay on Daylight Savings Time, which means it must be approved by congress, and you know they aren’t going to approve any such thing. According to the medical stuff I’ve read (and understood), we’d be better off if we stayed on Standard time, and THAT doesn’t require congressional approval.

The older I get the grumpier I get in the week following the time shift. So, Auntie Lenora is Aunt Grump this week. Deal with it!

And, I’m late again in posting. Deal with that, too;-) That’s because I spent yesterday afternoon napping with the Big Chihuahua and making and pinning the quilt sandwich of that loooooong and skinny quilt. I am going to start quilting it today, I hope.

Today I have my “Let’s get to know each other” interview with End of Life WA. Perhaps, with enough coffee, Aunt Grump will take a hike before then. Do ya think?

Business Cards:
Follow up on my cards came, and they were beautiful, except where the “Dea” of Death wasn’t silvered. I randomly checked through all 500 cards, and it was missing on the several I checked. I called Vista and they immediately said they would replace them, and that I could keep the ones I have and use them in the meantime. Nice people to deal with!

Way Back When:
I had a long arm quilting machine. When I sold my house, I had to give it up as it took up too much room. As I recall, there were two rollers in the front, the quilt backing was loaded on one, the quilt top on the other, and the batt was pulled up between them. I had my batt in long tub on the floor, and wouldn’t cut it until the quilting was finished. Everything was rolled onto one roller at the back of the machine. So, I was watching a randomly picked quilting show on YouTube the other day, and the quilter showed how she makes her sandwich. She went to her favorite hardware/lumber store (a quilter’s best friend after the fabric store), bought some pre-finished 1”x2” and taped her fabric for a sandwich to them, rolled them, and voila! Looked like a great idea, so I went to my favorite store, bought an 8’ piece of same, and they were kind enough to cut it for me.

Came home, cut my fabric and batt, got it rolled, and yesterday, I unrolled it in segments, sprayed adhesive on it, pinned it, and rolled the the sandwich into a single roll that will sit in my lap as I run it through the sewing machine. I’ll re-roll it, and repeat until it’s quilted. However, one should NEVER work on a quilt when one is grumpy, so it may take a day or two until I get to it. When you quilt and are grumpy or angry, bad things happen to the quilt and you spend a whole lot of time picking stitches out and do-overs.

Anyhow, here is a picture of the long skinny quilt on 3 rollers. In this case, the backing is plain muslin, but if it was printed, it would be rolled with the print on the down/outside, and you’d see it on the roll. Note, it is wider than the batt, which is also rolled and flattened, and then the top, which is rolled so the print is on the top as it’s unrolled. For you quilters out there, it is a neat trick, and I wish I could give credit to the quilter who showed it, but it came up randomly and I wasn’t paying attention. Bad me. Truly. I do enjoy giving credit when and where it’s due.

Photo of the Week:
rolled fabric. exciting, huh?

from the desk of the big chihuahua–
i don’t know why my human is so grumpy or sleepy, but i love it when she’s sleepy enough for afternoon snuggles and naps. she gets grumpy now and then, but seldom at me. it is getting warmer outside, the cold will surely be gone soon. then it will nice for longer walks. if you want to go walking, and you come to visit, my human will go with you and take me. walks are fun.

Quote of the Week:

“Dear daylight savings, I asked for more sleep. Not more sun.”

–unknown

Soundtrack of the Week:

Dune Part Two by Hans Zimmer.
We’re going to the movie this week.

A Sneak Preview of my New Business Cards

1 Reply

Weather in the Tries:
I do believe Spring is riding her pogo stick to get here. We have a few nights on the agenda to get below freezing, but not seriously. And our days will all be high 40s and 50s. With cold winds.

A Sneak Preview of my New Business Cards:
But first a follow-up on the quilt sandwich. It is quilted and the edging is almost finished. And I have approval on the fabric for the 100-inch long by 10-inch width quilt which is next up. No, they don’t have a pet snake that likes to stretch out to sleep, they have a cat who likes to sit on the top of the wood headboard of their bed and look outside, and they don’t want the headboard scratched. Then up will be a set of 4 placemats and my Winter Gifts will be finished! And I can get back to the mountains for my friend. That’s going to be fun to work on. I’ve got a start. It will be easy, once all the pieces are sewn and the picture decided on.

Friend Micki saw my quilt, Stars Falling on New Mexico Mountains, and wanted one like it only different, she wants Mt. Shasta and her three sister mountains. I can hardly wait to get to it. I will try to remember to take pix during the process in case you ever want to try it 😉

Stars Falling on New Mexico Mountains, about 53″ x 19″

I don’t think I told you about going to a networking evening with people who work with Seniors (as in old farts and fartesses, not high schoolers). In talking with some of them, I realized I really do need to get busy, so I have ordered a set of business cards from Vista Print they should be here Wednesday. I found some on a foil background and can hardly wait to get the cards and my new alias email set up. I had it, then wanted to edit, and hit delete instead of edit and now I have to wait until Wednesday to set it up. Stupid computer, I’m allowed three alias emails, it counts the ones set up, not the ones deleted. Really looking forward to our March meeting.

Please don’t try the email in the card until at least Thursday.

I volunteered with End of Life Washington, and hope to begin training soon. Also, I volunteered with Heartlinks Hospiceto be an Eleventh-Hour volunteer, who will be called when a client is “actively” dying, to go and sit with him until life ceases. I will begin training with them soon. I think the phrase, “actively dying,” is beyond a little odd, but extremely accurate. The first time I heard the phrase was when the hospice nurse came to check onmy Favorite Uncle (also my only uncle) and she used that term. His body was shutting down, including his thermostat.

He reached his left hand across his body and picked something out of a nonexistent bowl and moved it to his left side and dropped it in another nonexistent bowl. Eventually he stopped doing that, and slept a bit. I sat with him for 30 some hours, and kept a diary of what he did. Turned it into my poem, Marking the Hours. Which is the title poem of my book, Marking the Hours. Sometimes he was lucid, mostly mumbling. I wish I knew then what I know now.

Found a fun piece of music on YouTube, Hunnu Guren – Batzorig Vaanchig & Auli. It’s throat singing from Mongolia and Bagpipe and Drum music from Latvia. Not the HU, but fun, and gorgeous scenery. Right now as I write this, I am listening to Hauser play his cello. From The HU to Hauser. Do I have eclectic taste in music or what?

from the desk of the big chihuahua:
my human is going to go away today. i just know it. she’s talking about pizza and beer and bookgroup. if i could reach the lock on either door, i’d go outside on my own, but i have to wait for her and then walk in a harness. she won’t let me run free, says something about me being owl bait, and she says she doesn’t want an owl. she wants me. i’m not afraid of no stinkin’ owl. but, why take chances/ that’s supposed to be a question mark but i don’t know how to get it, after all, i’m just a dog.

Quote of the Week:

“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.”
― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations from Filling the Jars

me again, the short legged kid. this is what we get outside right now. don’t know this dickens guy, but he nailed it. oh, a funny happened to my human yesterday. a zombie leaf attacked her face. now she knows how it feels. but she wasn’t scared, just called it a star farker and kept on our walk. is star farker a nice word/ she says it a lot, so it must be.

Yes, your coffee break is late today:

Coffee Break Escapes with Auntie Lenora

Short readings for short times