this may be a repeat of another post or part of a post but just in case i have not done so yet i am copying and pasting this here, yet again. thanks for your patience to any who read this. ~denise
15 minutes today
today i spent a bit more than just 15 minutes taking the leftoverstrings from the quilt top we made for joanna 2 saturdays ago andturning them into the 5" squares. heartstrings style. i will thentake some of the fabric from my stash that matches the fabric used inher quilt and turn them into coasters. i will quilt them with asingle heart shape and sign them on the back with her name and thedates and "friend of my heart"these will be presented to the women who worked on the quilt forjoanna and to her mother. if i have enough strings from the fabricused in the quilt i will give themTom, her husband, to be distributed to whoever he sees fit.thamnk you for listening to me once again about how much i loved mydear friend and how horribly my heart aches knowing i will neveranswer my phone to hear her say "hello, friend."stashbusting hugsdenise/deBRAT in windy and coolish today floridaoh and i updated my quilting blog today too with copies of my variousposts about joanna so i do not lose that info over time. i hope tohave enough composure to look on my camera memory disks this week forsome pictures i suspect are still on there somewhere.www.debratsquilting.blogspot.com
Monday, May 21, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Got a good Friend? Then TELL them!
here is some advice I posted on the dear jane list on Wednesday, May 16th. I heard from many other janiacs but one wrote me telling me she had written a long hand written letter to a dear friend of hers of many years. Please do this! and if you can, let me know you did by posting a comment on here. Tom, asked us to do something that would continue on in Joanna's honor, this is my attempt at carrying on a portion of my wonderful friendship with Joanna.
Thank you. ~dmw
May 16th, 2007
Now i'm going to attempt to tell you something I hope you take to the
very core of you.
do NOT stop and think just DO THIS! tell someone or everyone TODAY
that you love them. that they make you smile from the very bottom of
your being. that you would not trade an instant of any moment in time
you have spent with them for anything (even chocolate!) in the world.
yes it sounds sappy. and yes you may both cry, but oh so much better
to cry over the joy having shared your love and gratefulness with your
loved ones now while you can each go forth knowing just how deeply you
treasure every memory you make together, rather to be expressing your
sentiments during their final days. The sadness of the situation over
shadows the joy of the expressions of love and laughter.
If it is hard for you to express your feelings than buy a card and
send it. send the sappiest card you can find! then use that to open
the door to say it OUT LOUD!!!! And when you share this with the
loved ones in your life, know that you did this in honor of Joanna
Fritz-Reed, breast cancer fighter.
i am going to type here for you the verse on one of the many cards i
purchased for Joanna last week. Oh and the reason i bought cards (as
I am more of an email and in person person, is because she had shown
me a card her mother-in-law sent her and it meant the world to her.
her eyes lit up, her smile broadened and i knew that i needed to put a
smile on her face like that daily. then, because i am human and weak,
I resorted to my "old me" ways of not doing snail mail, and i did not
mail the cards. Now I will be bombarding her with cards instead of
one daily. so FORCE yourself out of your comfort zone. emails and
ecards are nice but Joanna has not looked at email in months! and as
I talked to her every day and sometimes several times a day AND see
her in person once or more a week, i let the cards slide. shame on
me. such joy i could have brought to her all along. so MAIL cards I
don't care that postage just went up, it will make the specialness of
the cards seem all
the more.
okay before i go into a more lecture mode or cry and have to leave my
desk, here is the verse:
love to ALL of you. For you are my dear jane sisters and we will
ALWAYS have THAT in common,
denise/deBRAT in florida
"God watches over us
every minute of our lives,
and once in a while,
we are blessed
with an exceptional gift-
a true friend.
I believe that's
what God gave me
when He created
our friendship.
You are one
of the few people
I can really be myself around.
I can joke with you
and know that you'll
share my laughter.
I can cry with you
and trust that you
won't ever take advantage
of my vulnerability.
I'm not afraid
to be honest with you,
because we're secure
in our friendship.
There's no doubt about it,
God has brought us together.
But every day,
through caring and understanding,
we are the ones
who make sure
we stay that way."
~Tara Jaye Morrow
Thank you. ~dmw
May 16th, 2007
Now i'm going to attempt to tell you something I hope you take to the
very core of you.
do NOT stop and think just DO THIS! tell someone or everyone TODAY
that you love them. that they make you smile from the very bottom of
your being. that you would not trade an instant of any moment in time
you have spent with them for anything (even chocolate!) in the world.
yes it sounds sappy. and yes you may both cry, but oh so much better
to cry over the joy having shared your love and gratefulness with your
loved ones now while you can each go forth knowing just how deeply you
treasure every memory you make together, rather to be expressing your
sentiments during their final days. The sadness of the situation over
shadows the joy of the expressions of love and laughter.
If it is hard for you to express your feelings than buy a card and
send it. send the sappiest card you can find! then use that to open
the door to say it OUT LOUD!!!! And when you share this with the
loved ones in your life, know that you did this in honor of Joanna
Fritz-Reed, breast cancer fighter.
i am going to type here for you the verse on one of the many cards i
purchased for Joanna last week. Oh and the reason i bought cards (as
I am more of an email and in person person, is because she had shown
me a card her mother-in-law sent her and it meant the world to her.
her eyes lit up, her smile broadened and i knew that i needed to put a
smile on her face like that daily. then, because i am human and weak,
I resorted to my "old me" ways of not doing snail mail, and i did not
mail the cards. Now I will be bombarding her with cards instead of
one daily. so FORCE yourself out of your comfort zone. emails and
ecards are nice but Joanna has not looked at email in months! and as
I talked to her every day and sometimes several times a day AND see
her in person once or more a week, i let the cards slide. shame on
me. such joy i could have brought to her all along. so MAIL cards I
don't care that postage just went up, it will make the specialness of
the cards seem all
the more.
okay before i go into a more lecture mode or cry and have to leave my
desk, here is the verse:
love to ALL of you. For you are my dear jane sisters and we will
ALWAYS have THAT in common,
denise/deBRAT in florida
"God watches over us
every minute of our lives,
and once in a while,
we are blessed
with an exceptional gift-
a true friend.
I believe that's
what God gave me
when He created
our friendship.
You are one
of the few people
I can really be myself around.
I can joke with you
and know that you'll
share my laughter.
I can cry with you
and trust that you
won't ever take advantage
of my vulnerability.
I'm not afraid
to be honest with you,
because we're secure
in our friendship.
There's no doubt about it,
God has brought us together.
But every day,
through caring and understanding,
we are the ones
who make sure
we stay that way."
~Tara Jaye Morrow
Another missive on Joanna
a portion below posted ot stashbusters on thursday, may 17
Hi alllast night was the first evening when I was not working until 8 pm,or going to a department dinner, or getting massage therapy, or ableto visit my dear friend Joanna in a very long time.I sewed up a pillowcase that Joanna got the fabric for when we sewedher quilt top a two saturdays ago. now I need to remember whichfriend she intended it for when she got the fabric. it is santassurfing and relaxing at the beach. and it is really cute! but mostimportantly, now done!I hemmed (by machine, Life is too short to have done it by hand) a 6tier skirt I started on nearly a month ago. and i put the elasticwaist band on it. thank you to the Mary that sent my elastic awhile back when I first mentioned using stash up by making someskirts. i am wearing it today in hopes that Joanna will want tosee me briefly tonight after work. As it is all yellow fabric withflowers all over them she will have a huge smile on her face whenshe sees it. I plan to make more of these from my stash. it used,hmmm how much fabric did it use? pardon for calculations.....it used 6 1/2 yards cuts and one 1/4 yard cut and several FQ's andanother 1/4 yard cut for the waistband. so that is , drumrollplease.......4 1/2 yards! woohooowhat else did I do. I thought I did something else in the sewingroom last night. Oh well, today dh leaves to spend a couple of dayswith his dad (83) as his mom travels to accept a roller skatingaward for them. She is (82) and if you roller skate(or did) youwill know of them as George and Gladys Werner who inventedthe "Werner Tango". The were pro's and actually coached a Canadianroller skating team years ago too. They are in some skating hall offame type place in Ohio (ithink it is Ohio) too. so... if you eversee their name on a plaque or in a newspaper know that I am theirdaughter-in-law. They are the ones that treat me like a princesswhen i go to visit. anyway, mom (mil) was too worried about dadbeing alone after all of his back and hip surgeries that she was notgoing to go. but with my dh going over for a couple of days to keephim company, she is now off to wherever it is to receive the award.dh will be doing lots of "yard" work for his mom while he is there.he had a list of gardeing gloves, 3 sizes of bush shears and pottingsoil.well i can't recall what else i did and as it is lunch time i'm offto go sit in my hot car and begin reading a new book (The StoneMonkey)have a grand and glorious day and HUG and TELL someone you love themTODAY! right now!denise/deBRAT in too hot florida and no rain in sight
My dear friend Joanna left her earthly cancer riddled body yesterday(Saturday, may 19, 2007) in the early afternoon to trade it in for a quilter’s-delight-stay-up-all-night body in heaven!
I can now relate to why people in the Bible tore their clothing upon the loss of loved ones. I do not know how to express the total devastation this has wrought upon my heart.
Soon after we met her cancer returned and Joanna never had the strength to continue with any of the wonderful crafts she had learned or desired to. The toll the chemo and cancer took on her braincells made it hard for her to grasp new tasks and her hands and feet began the descent into uselessness before the rest of her body followed over 16 months. To honor her love of quilting and crafting I am attempting to stay motivated and to not “hide” as I did when Winnie left us. This is proving to be very difficult. I hope to work on and finish my turning 50 self portrait Picasso style quilt wall hanging soon. First I need to find the diamonds I started for it. While Joanna did not understand the red hat people she did understand “my” desire to finally achieve my goal to be FIFTY!
Today, enjoy the visit of a chipmunk, smell some flowers, hug someone dear to you, cry a little and laugh a LOT!
In quilting friendship
denise/deBRAT
posted to stashbusters on Monday, may 14th the last time I saw my dear friend Joanna.
15 minutes braggie
hi alli am STILL behind on emails, i am currently on April 27th... sighBUT today i am putting the binding onto a quilt that i machinequilted this weekend for my dear friend Joanna that i have postedabout the past couple of weeks. She told me tonight how much sheappreciates that i am working on her quilt and that she knows I amso gungho about it because i did not get to finish Winnie's (OurCivil War Winnie for those who are janiacs) until after herpassing. Joanna had to say it to make me "see" it. She was right about my subconcious. She is so often right.so my braggie is that if I get a move on on this quilt binding ihave about 120" left to go and i'm a slow hand binder-whipper-downerLOL then I can get it to her tomorrow after work. she said bring ittonight but i want to wash it and get good pics of it before i turnit over. then again, i just might take it to her and then go to herhouse on friday night and wash it for her and take the pics whilethere! I ahve a photographer's background stand and I use that totake good pics of my quilts. well, I "should" use that but often iam in a hurry and don't get a "GOOD " pic just a fast pic on thefloor while standing on the arm of my sofa (oh so safe, eh?) whichis exactly what i took BEFORE i invested 80 bucks in the stand. LOLoh well, the quilt will not get done if i am typing. thank you forbeing there for me so I could braghugs,denise/deBRAT-jane
Hi alllast night was the first evening when I was not working until 8 pm,or going to a department dinner, or getting massage therapy, or ableto visit my dear friend Joanna in a very long time.I sewed up a pillowcase that Joanna got the fabric for when we sewedher quilt top a two saturdays ago. now I need to remember whichfriend she intended it for when she got the fabric. it is santassurfing and relaxing at the beach. and it is really cute! but mostimportantly, now done!I hemmed (by machine, Life is too short to have done it by hand) a 6tier skirt I started on nearly a month ago. and i put the elasticwaist band on it. thank you to the Mary that sent my elastic awhile back when I first mentioned using stash up by making someskirts. i am wearing it today in hopes that Joanna will want tosee me briefly tonight after work. As it is all yellow fabric withflowers all over them she will have a huge smile on her face whenshe sees it. I plan to make more of these from my stash. it used,hmmm how much fabric did it use? pardon for calculations.....it used 6 1/2 yards cuts and one 1/4 yard cut and several FQ's andanother 1/4 yard cut for the waistband. so that is , drumrollplease.......4 1/2 yards! woohooowhat else did I do. I thought I did something else in the sewingroom last night. Oh well, today dh leaves to spend a couple of dayswith his dad (83) as his mom travels to accept a roller skatingaward for them. She is (82) and if you roller skate(or did) youwill know of them as George and Gladys Werner who inventedthe "Werner Tango". The were pro's and actually coached a Canadianroller skating team years ago too. They are in some skating hall offame type place in Ohio (ithink it is Ohio) too. so... if you eversee their name on a plaque or in a newspaper know that I am theirdaughter-in-law. They are the ones that treat me like a princesswhen i go to visit. anyway, mom (mil) was too worried about dadbeing alone after all of his back and hip surgeries that she was notgoing to go. but with my dh going over for a couple of days to keephim company, she is now off to wherever it is to receive the award.dh will be doing lots of "yard" work for his mom while he is there.he had a list of gardeing gloves, 3 sizes of bush shears and pottingsoil.well i can't recall what else i did and as it is lunch time i'm offto go sit in my hot car and begin reading a new book (The StoneMonkey)have a grand and glorious day and HUG and TELL someone you love themTODAY! right now!denise/deBRAT in too hot florida and no rain in sight
My dear friend Joanna left her earthly cancer riddled body yesterday(Saturday, may 19, 2007) in the early afternoon to trade it in for a quilter’s-delight-stay-up-all-night body in heaven!
I can now relate to why people in the Bible tore their clothing upon the loss of loved ones. I do not know how to express the total devastation this has wrought upon my heart.
Soon after we met her cancer returned and Joanna never had the strength to continue with any of the wonderful crafts she had learned or desired to. The toll the chemo and cancer took on her braincells made it hard for her to grasp new tasks and her hands and feet began the descent into uselessness before the rest of her body followed over 16 months. To honor her love of quilting and crafting I am attempting to stay motivated and to not “hide” as I did when Winnie left us. This is proving to be very difficult. I hope to work on and finish my turning 50 self portrait Picasso style quilt wall hanging soon. First I need to find the diamonds I started for it. While Joanna did not understand the red hat people she did understand “my” desire to finally achieve my goal to be FIFTY!
Today, enjoy the visit of a chipmunk, smell some flowers, hug someone dear to you, cry a little and laugh a LOT!
In quilting friendship
denise/deBRAT
posted to stashbusters on Monday, may 14th the last time I saw my dear friend Joanna.
15 minutes braggie
hi alli am STILL behind on emails, i am currently on April 27th... sighBUT today i am putting the binding onto a quilt that i machinequilted this weekend for my dear friend Joanna that i have postedabout the past couple of weeks. She told me tonight how much sheappreciates that i am working on her quilt and that she knows I amso gungho about it because i did not get to finish Winnie's (OurCivil War Winnie for those who are janiacs) until after herpassing. Joanna had to say it to make me "see" it. She was right about my subconcious. She is so often right.so my braggie is that if I get a move on on this quilt binding ihave about 120" left to go and i'm a slow hand binder-whipper-downerLOL then I can get it to her tomorrow after work. she said bring ittonight but i want to wash it and get good pics of it before i turnit over. then again, i just might take it to her and then go to herhouse on friday night and wash it for her and take the pics whilethere! I ahve a photographer's background stand and I use that totake good pics of my quilts. well, I "should" use that but often iam in a hurry and don't get a "GOOD " pic just a fast pic on thefloor while standing on the arm of my sofa (oh so safe, eh?) whichis exactly what i took BEFORE i invested 80 bucks in the stand. LOLoh well, the quilt will not get done if i am typing. thank you forbeing there for me so I could braghugs,denise/deBRAT-jane
Life: Joys and Sorrows
today is May 20th, yesterday my dear friend, Joanna Fritz-Reed left her cancer riddled earthly body and went to enjoy her heavenly body. I am beyond saddened by this loss. I want to "keep" a couple of the postings I made recently on a yahoo group I'm on so I can remember some things better. My memory is not what it once was and I want to be able to take out these memories and enjoy them often.
so here are some clippings from my posts:
onMay 7th on Stashbusters I wrote:
okay i have no clue what day is the brag day anymore as I'm nowclose to 1200 msgs behind.but on saturday a group of us got together and made a quilt for mydear friend joanna who is stage 4 breast cancer. we sewed togethera quilt top that is 70 x 84 currently and I will add the flange and7 " all around border as soon as i can (this is the nearly two weeksi work 8-8 most nights) i did sew the backing on saturday night andsunday i went to my other friend's house where the mid-arm islocated. I played for 4 hours on that thing and STILL can't get alocked stitch. we think we have narrowed it down to how i amloading it on the rails. sigh..... i only wish it had beensomething easily fixed!the good news is: when I finally get the bobbin thread and the topthread to form a completed stitch i will have nice even quiltingstitches in the project! my holes were evenly spaced LOLi worked on scrap fabric so....the other braggies are:i used up over 2 yards in my girlfriends quilt as my stash had someof the fabric she needed to "re-create" a quilt made over a yearago. AND i used over 2 yards of fabric messing around with the darnstitches formed, or rather NOT formed on the longarm.anyway that is my bragging for today, may 7th now i'm off to run tothe ladies room so i 'll be already to answer the phones come 5 pm.
denise/deBRAT in too hot florida with NOT enough DAYs let alonehours in those days
May 14th~
hi alli am STILL behind on emails, i am currently on April 27th... sighBUT today i am putting the binding onto a quilt that i machinequilted this weekend for my dear friend Joanna that i have postedabout the past couple of weeks. She told me tonight how much sheappreciates that i am working on her quilt and that she knows I amso gungho about it because i did not get to finish Winnie's (OurCivil War Winnie for those who are janiacs) until after herpassing. Joanna had to say it to make me "see" it. She was rightabout my subconcious. She is so often right.so my braggie is that if I get a move on on this quilt binding ihave about 120" left to go and i'm a slow hand binder-whipper-downerLOL then I can get it to her tomorrow after work. she said bring ittonight but i want to wash it and get good pics of it before i turnit over. then again, i just might take it to her and then go to herhouse on friday night and wash it for her and take the pics whilethere! I ahve a photographer's background stand and I use that totake good pics of my quilts. well, I "should" use that but often iam in a hurry and don't get a "GOOD " pic just a fast pic on thefloor while standing on the arm of my sofa (oh so safe, eh?) whichis exactly what i took BEFORE i invested 80 bucks in the stand. LOLoh well, the quilt will not get done if i am typing. thank you forbeing there for me so I could braghugs,denise/deBRAT-jane
NOTE: i delivered it that evening at Joanna's insistence without pre-washing it for her. Taht was the last time I saw her :( She was so happy over the quilt being finished
so here are some clippings from my posts:
onMay 7th on Stashbusters I wrote:
okay i have no clue what day is the brag day anymore as I'm nowclose to 1200 msgs behind.but on saturday a group of us got together and made a quilt for mydear friend joanna who is stage 4 breast cancer. we sewed togethera quilt top that is 70 x 84 currently and I will add the flange and7 " all around border as soon as i can (this is the nearly two weeksi work 8-8 most nights) i did sew the backing on saturday night andsunday i went to my other friend's house where the mid-arm islocated. I played for 4 hours on that thing and STILL can't get alocked stitch. we think we have narrowed it down to how i amloading it on the rails. sigh..... i only wish it had beensomething easily fixed!the good news is: when I finally get the bobbin thread and the topthread to form a completed stitch i will have nice even quiltingstitches in the project! my holes were evenly spaced LOLi worked on scrap fabric so....the other braggies are:i used up over 2 yards in my girlfriends quilt as my stash had someof the fabric she needed to "re-create" a quilt made over a yearago. AND i used over 2 yards of fabric messing around with the darnstitches formed, or rather NOT formed on the longarm.anyway that is my bragging for today, may 7th now i'm off to run tothe ladies room so i 'll be already to answer the phones come 5 pm.
denise/deBRAT in too hot florida with NOT enough DAYs let alonehours in those days
May 14th~
hi alli am STILL behind on emails, i am currently on April 27th... sighBUT today i am putting the binding onto a quilt that i machinequilted this weekend for my dear friend Joanna that i have postedabout the past couple of weeks. She told me tonight how much sheappreciates that i am working on her quilt and that she knows I amso gungho about it because i did not get to finish Winnie's (OurCivil War Winnie for those who are janiacs) until after herpassing. Joanna had to say it to make me "see" it. She was rightabout my subconcious. She is so often right.so my braggie is that if I get a move on on this quilt binding ihave about 120" left to go and i'm a slow hand binder-whipper-downerLOL then I can get it to her tomorrow after work. she said bring ittonight but i want to wash it and get good pics of it before i turnit over. then again, i just might take it to her and then go to herhouse on friday night and wash it for her and take the pics whilethere! I ahve a photographer's background stand and I use that totake good pics of my quilts. well, I "should" use that but often iam in a hurry and don't get a "GOOD " pic just a fast pic on thefloor while standing on the arm of my sofa (oh so safe, eh?) whichis exactly what i took BEFORE i invested 80 bucks in the stand. LOLoh well, the quilt will not get done if i am typing. thank you forbeing there for me so I could braghugs,denise/deBRAT-jane
NOTE: i delivered it that evening at Joanna's insistence without pre-washing it for her. Taht was the last time I saw her :( She was so happy over the quilt being finished
May 17th
last night was the first evening when I was not working until 8 pm,or going to a department dinner, or getting massage therapy, or ableto visit my dear friend Joanna in a very long time.I sewed up a pillowcase that Joanna got the fabric for when we sewedher quilt top a two saturdays ago. now I need to remember whichfriend she intended it for when she got the fabric. it is santassurfing and relaxing at the beach. and it is really cute! but mostimportantly, now done!I hemmed (by machine, Life is too short to have done it by hand) a 6tier skirt I started on nearly a month ago. and i put the elasticwaist band on it. thank you to the Mary that sent my elastic awhile back when I first mentioned using stash up by making someskirts. i am wearing it today in hopes that Joanna will want tosee me briefly tonight after work. As it is all yellow fabric withflowers all over them she will have a huge smile on her face whenshe sees it. I plan to make more of these from my stash. it used,hmmm how much fabric did it use? pardon for calculations.....it used 6 1/2 yards cuts and one 1/4 yard cut and several FQ's andanother 1/4 yard cut for the waistband. so that is , drumrollplease.......4 1/2 yards! woohooowhat else did I do. I thought I did something else in the sewingroom last night. Oh well, today dh leaves to spend a couple of dayswith his dad (83) as his mom travels to accept a roller skatingaward for them. She is (82) and if you roller skate(or did) youwill know of them as George and Gladys Werner who inventedthe "Werner Tango". The were pro's and actually coached a Canadianroller skating team years ago too. They are in some skating hall offame type place in Ohio (ithink it is Ohio) too. so... if you eversee their name on a plaque or in a newspaper know that I am theirdaughter-in-law. They are the ones that treat me like a princesswhen i go to visit. anyway, mom (mil) was too worried about dadbeing alone after all of his back and hip surgeries that she was notgoing to go. but with my dh going over for a couple of days to keephim company, she is now off to wherever it is to receive the award.dh will be doing lots of "yard" work for his mom while he is there.he had a list of gardeing gloves, 3 sizes of bush shears and pottingsoil.well i can't recall what else i did and as it is lunch time i'm offto go sit in my hot car and begin reading a new book (The StoneMonkey)
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Four Patch Frenzy Surprise
Happy first weekend of Spring! and a gorgeous day here in Tampa Bay Florida it is too. Sky is clear and just the right amount of breeze!
Today I finally settled on my Four Patch Frenzy Surprise Fabrics (mystery quilt by Tara Kos for Quilts by Kos yahoo group quiltsbykos). Of course, it helps that we are 11 of the 15 clues into it already, in order to make a decision. I only waivered on one choice. I wanted to use a 1/4" black and white check (with a slight waving to the lines of the checks so they were not a cut and dry type of check) but the mystery uses 2 1/2 yards of the dark and I decided that was a LOT of checks. I thought of making it the light at only 1 1/2 yards but then decided I had so many clues I could use the SUNFLOWER fabrics I wanted to use in the proper sections to show them off in all of their regal glory!
so from the left:
Dark = assortment of deep blues all of the same tone of blue
Medium 1 = Sunflower fabrics in two different sizes of flower. large robust 5" across sunflower heads and smaller, 2" brown-eyed susans.
Medium 2 = assortment of deep greens all of the same tone of green
Light = assortment of light blue sky prints. there is one yard of the print with the birds in it. used properly (remember i have most all of the clues now LOL) the two prints with flowers on them will make a nice addition too.
So you can see this will be a sunshiny happy quilt
OH the bottom two fabrics are companion prints I felt went with the original thought process but don't sit well in any cutting. i'm think of some sort of border if i decide to go bigger than Tara's generous lap sized quilt the mystery is already set at. or fun pillow cases to match.
anyway, these are my choices and now i have another PIG to add to the mental list. just as soon as i get time to sew though... these babies are getting cut!
have a "SUN"flowery day
denise/deBRAT
Today I finally settled on my Four Patch Frenzy Surprise Fabrics (mystery quilt by Tara Kos for Quilts by Kos yahoo group quiltsbykos). Of course, it helps that we are 11 of the 15 clues into it already, in order to make a decision. I only waivered on one choice. I wanted to use a 1/4" black and white check (with a slight waving to the lines of the checks so they were not a cut and dry type of check) but the mystery uses 2 1/2 yards of the dark and I decided that was a LOT of checks. I thought of making it the light at only 1 1/2 yards but then decided I had so many clues I could use the SUNFLOWER fabrics I wanted to use in the proper sections to show them off in all of their regal glory!
so from the left:
Dark = assortment of deep blues all of the same tone of blue
Medium 1 = Sunflower fabrics in two different sizes of flower. large robust 5" across sunflower heads and smaller, 2" brown-eyed susans.
Medium 2 = assortment of deep greens all of the same tone of green
Light = assortment of light blue sky prints. there is one yard of the print with the birds in it. used properly (remember i have most all of the clues now LOL) the two prints with flowers on them will make a nice addition too.
So you can see this will be a sunshiny happy quilt
OH the bottom two fabrics are companion prints I felt went with the original thought process but don't sit well in any cutting. i'm think of some sort of border if i decide to go bigger than Tara's generous lap sized quilt the mystery is already set at. or fun pillow cases to match.
anyway, these are my choices and now i have another PIG to add to the mental list. just as soon as i get time to sew though... these babies are getting cut!
have a "SUN"flowery day
denise/deBRAT
Friday, March 23, 2007
Remembering Our Civil War Winnie Quilt MAILED!
mailed sunday march 18th to Tom Ledoux and family. more later right now just pics uploaded. denise/deBrat-jane
okay from the top, the label for the civil war winnie quilt. The last bit of binding was stitched down late on Sunday, February 25th, 2007. It is my first UFO finish of the year. It is hand quilted, though VERY little. As it has Thermore batting and that can be quilted up to 9" apart and I just wanted it DONE, I hand quilted down the middle of the sashings. The solid triangles in the border are quilted 1/4" away from the seam and the kites (corners for your non-dear jane people) are quilted according to them "talking" to me. I would have loved to put more quilting into but as the backing is ANOTHER quilt top and they don't line up, all those seams were killing my hands, fingers and toes! I actually snapped 5 needles while quilting this one due to the over lapping seam allowances. So more quilting was not a mentally or physically "able" choice in this case. I'm sure Winnie will forgive me and be happy that so many sent such lovely blocks to keep her family comforted and comfortable as they wrap up in this gift from many countries.
If you don't know what a dear jane quilt is you can see it at Brenda Papadakis' website but before I give you the link I will warn you, dear jane blocks are addicting.
www.dearjane.com there is a button on the left to janiacs with a bunch of links to different baby janes in various stages of completion all over the world! make sure you have your glasses on and your coffee mug filled!
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Gauge, Gauge, GAUGE!
Yuck! I hate gauge.
First off I have to think every stinkin' time I type it so I get the u and the a in the proper order. Always wrong the first time too.
Second, I find that my gauge from a year ago is so much different than it is today. Why you might ask (and please do ask!) Well, because after pondering this for the past 39 rounds of this "second" sock, I realise why it is off. Let's start at the beginning... a very good place to start. (hear the do re mi?)
I am on a no spending diet. It sucks but it has to be done. So in an effort to have something to do "any" thing to do, I have pulled out my old knitting projects that are already started. You know, those otherwise known as UFO's UnFinished Objects! So in the past few weeks I have finished a very plain shrug in very bargain-in-my-stash-sale yarn. Jo Sharp DK Wool in seashell
pattern here
http://www.caron.com/projects/shadows/sss_shrug.html
yarn here
http://www.josharp.com.au/Yarn/Yarn.html
I have finished one pair of socks which needed only the decreasing for the toe on the second sock... shameful I know.
I have finished a shell top in tagliatelli merino tape raphael colorway
pattern booklet but not the pattern showing here, and yarn shown
http://www.threadbearfiberarts.com/yarn/colinette/tagliatelli.php
I have finished another pair of socks, well no I have finished ONE sock with size two dpns and cast on for the "mate" sock twice in two different sized needles until I realised that I must have used size ONE dpns to make the sock. The bottom part of the first sock (after all the decreasing was done) does not matter that much that it is in 2's vs 1's but I have a tiny ridge where I first tried the size 3's LOL
Well anyway, on to the "mate" sock. The size 2's were too large when I cast on so I had to wait until I went home (I knit at work remember?) and then I had to dig and dig and dig until I found the pair of socks that DID have the size 1's dpns IN them (the original one had stitch holders when I picked it back up) and so now
EEEK ! the rest of my clever post disappeared!
First off I have to think every stinkin' time I type it so I get the u and the a in the proper order. Always wrong the first time too.
Second, I find that my gauge from a year ago is so much different than it is today. Why you might ask (and please do ask!) Well, because after pondering this for the past 39 rounds of this "second" sock, I realise why it is off. Let's start at the beginning... a very good place to start. (hear the do re mi?)
I am on a no spending diet. It sucks but it has to be done. So in an effort to have something to do "any" thing to do, I have pulled out my old knitting projects that are already started. You know, those otherwise known as UFO's UnFinished Objects! So in the past few weeks I have finished a very plain shrug in very bargain-in-my-stash-sale yarn. Jo Sharp DK Wool in seashell
pattern here
http://www.caron.com/projects/shadows/sss_shrug.html
yarn here
http://www.josharp.com.au/Yarn/Yarn.html
I have finished one pair of socks which needed only the decreasing for the toe on the second sock... shameful I know.
I have finished a shell top in tagliatelli merino tape raphael colorway
pattern booklet but not the pattern showing here, and yarn shown
http://www.threadbearfiberarts.com/yarn/colinette/tagliatelli.php
I have finished another pair of socks, well no I have finished ONE sock with size two dpns and cast on for the "mate" sock twice in two different sized needles until I realised that I must have used size ONE dpns to make the sock. The bottom part of the first sock (after all the decreasing was done) does not matter that much that it is in 2's vs 1's but I have a tiny ridge where I first tried the size 3's LOL
Well anyway, on to the "mate" sock. The size 2's were too large when I cast on so I had to wait until I went home (I knit at work remember?) and then I had to dig and dig and dig until I found the pair of socks that DID have the size 1's dpns IN them (the original one had stitch holders when I picked it back up) and so now
EEEK ! the rest of my clever post disappeared!
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