Blown off tack again...

I have been blown in so many different directions in the past couple weeks, I think I'm sailing in circles. Or perhaps I'm stuck in my very own Bermuda Triangle?

This is not the idea I woke up with the other morning and began to crank out. This top wasn't even on my radar until this morning, when I got a phone call about a returned invitation to a baby shower next weekend...for twins.

I have this quilt for a boy, but a girly baby-ish quilt? Nothing in the inventory at the moment.

They look so much better with the light coming through them!

Fortunately, I had been scrounging for scraps recently and found leftovers from a very old Yellow Brick Road project. There were some completed blocks, and the rest of the pieces had been cut already. Talk about a no-brainer!

What it looks like from the front.

This has been pieced over about six years on three different machines, all with different ideas of a consistent quarter-inch seam allowance. As a result there are pinches, and puckers, and mismatched seams -- nothing that a little strategic quilting won't hide. This is not my best work.

But it is some of my fastest, and that's all that matters at this point.

Catching up...

Hello again, I'm back. Kind of. Too much going on, not much time for quilting, unfortunately, which just makes me cranky.

I did wake up yesterday with an idea, which I've started to run with in between errands, appointments, and everything else that's sucking up my creative time. Such is my life with Crafter's A.D.D.: it's not enough to get the design on paper and save it for later -- I'm compelled to throw any current project aside, grab some fabric and get sewing. I'd be much happier with it (and further along) if I had a big block of time to sit and crank it out, but at this point, I'll take what I can get.

Still in the early stages, here's a sneak peek:

The print is definitely a brighter pink (see below) -- I haven't yet learned to successfully correct indoor lighting.
Archie, though, seems to approve!

And look what arrived yesterday! I won an autographed copy of this book in the Sewn Launch Party giveaway, which really brightened my day -- I never win anything!


I have two words for this book: GOR. GEOUS! Beautiful quilts, wonderful illustrations, and photography that has me drooling (heavy Kaffe influence). If you haven't heard of Sewn or Sarah Fielke's blog, check them out!

It's a beautiful morning here in Chicago -- sixty-six degrees, blindingly sunny, with a light breeze. All the windows are wide open, and the sounds of the city (the El, car alarms, and the cement truck across the street) are filling my condo. It may be noisy, but at least it's not hot!

Chicago fabric swap!

Chicago quilters, is there anything better than new fabric? How about new, FREE fabric? I didn't think so!

Mary Beth over at The Lazy Milliner is organizing a fabric swap next week:

When?
Tuesday, June 30
6:00 - 8:30pm

Where?
Rogers Park Public Library
6907 N. Clark Street
2nd Floor, South Room

Dust off some of that yardage (or patterns, or notions) you'll never end up using and leave your cash at home!

Hope to see you there!

Home again, home again...

Love the pink shorts!

The reason for the trip, and why I pulled my hair out over a stupid satin purse:

My Monkey Girl on her big day! The purse was a hit.

We had quite a bit of rain at night, but it was clear most days. I saw a lot of great scenery:

Wrought iron railing at The Swizzle Inn

St. John's Bay

St. John's Bay

This is what My Monkey Girl wakes up to each morning...lucky girl!

St. Mark's Church behind the poinciana trees

Spittal Pond Nature Reserve...this is probably a grave marker

Bronzed inscription at Spanish Rock, 1543. The first evidence of humans on the island. Gus & Bill came later.

Spittal Pond Nature Reserve

My Monkey Girl at Spittal Pond

Off the pool deck

Along the South Road

Relaxing at St. John's Bay

This year is Bermuda's 400th Birthday, and as part of the celebration, the Tall Ships were in the harbor all week for the 2009 Tall Ships Altantic Challenge. We went out on my friends' boat to follow the fleet as it left for the start of the Bermuda-to-Charleston leg of the race (they started in Spain, and will end up in Belfast after stops in the Canary Islands, Bermuda, Charleston, Boston, and Halifax -- over 7,000 nautical miles). It was pretty cool to be within a stone's throw of these awesome ships.

The Liberty, a U.S. Coast Guard training vessel

The Europa (France)

The Bounty (U.S.), originally built for the movie in 1962

The Mircea (Romania) -- those black dots hanging on the yardarms are the crew!

The Concordia (Canada)

I love all the bright colors of the houses on the island. The use of color didn't start until the 1930's; up until then the stone or concrete was whitewashed or left natural.

That whitewashed, stepped roof is functional: it collects rain water, which feeds into the cistern below each house. There's no fresh water on the island and only one desalinization plant, so this is what residents cook and shower in (most drink bottled water). Some houses have filtration systems, others don't.

Kiskadees on the roof. These birds are LOUD!

And for some reason, this is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. I think I'm best at photographing architectural elements -- I guess everybody has a niche...

St. Mark's Cemetery

It was a fun trip, but it's good to be home -- and back to my sewing machine!

Now it's time to get back to work!

Quiltus interruptus...

Not much quilting going on this week, I'm in the middle of the Atlantic...

The view from the breakfast terrace. I could do without the lizards.

...enjoying some warm Bermuda sun!

Sweets for the sweet...

Nothing like a little sewing emergency to bring quilt progress to a screeching halt...

I'm going to my goddaughter's First Communion this coming weekend. I made her a cute little bracelet with freshwater pearls and pink crystals to commemorate the occasion, and thought I should give her something more religious, too. I remembered carrying a satin-covered prayer book for my First Communion and thought it'd be nice pass down the tradition (I also took it upon my seven-year old self to cut my bangs with a pair of dull kindergarten scissors the morning of, but that's another story -- and a tradition not worth keeping).

So I trekked down to the gift shop at St. Peter's downtown in search of a fancy prayer book, and found one with gold leaf edges, a satin purse to carry it in and a rosary in its own little matching case (do they even use rosaries any more at that age?). I figure if there's a shiny purse involved, she'll be more likely to use it, given she's seven and obsessed with accessories. And I was all excited, because that meant I was DONE, and all I had to do was pack.

Once home, I took everything out of the very large display box it came in to wrap in something that would actually fit in a carry-on bag...and discovered that the little purse? Was the exact same size as the prayer book, no bigger. That book fit like Oprah in her skinny jeans -- and when it was all jammed in there, the snaps were a good inch off, so there was no hope of getting it closed: two annoying factors that could spell end-of-the-world disappointment to a seven-year old.

Yes, I could have returned it. But this was the extent of their fancy prayer book inventory, and time was running out. There were no seam allowances to work with, and I couldn't move the snaps swithout leaving holes in the fabric...so I did what every obsessive crafter would do: I went to Joann's.

With no clear idea in my head of what I was going to do, it was like throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks: I bought eyelet, three different satins, interfacing, piping, cording, ribbon, buttons (both satin and pearl), flowers, snaps, magnets...and made two practice versions before I arrived at the final product:


White polyester shantung lined with pink satin, 7½" x 4½" with a Velcro closure. Same cording used for the piping and the strap. I used four different presser feet (if you don't have the #12 piping foot, you're don't know what you're missing), and am in love with them all. The book, rosary, and a little ChapStick fit perfectly with room to spare.

Now I'm done.

SC Johnson responds...

Kate,

I'm pleased to hear the Pledge™ Fabric Sweeper for Pet Hair worked well for you, but I understand your concern about reusability.

Well, isn't that nice? They understand my concerns!

I want you to know we are always considering improvements to our products, particularly when environmental impact is involved.

Really? I'd say this product is evidence to the contrary.

SC Johnson shares your concerns about doing what’s right for the planet (those particular staffers must have been on an Outward Bound vacation during product development) and, while we acknowledge more progress needs to me made, I can assure you we are committed to moving in the right direction.

Just not with the Pledge Fabric Sweeper, I see.

I’d also like to note that the Sweeper can be used until it no longer picks up and should last more than once around your house.

I don't think these people have pets...or pets with hair.

It is designed to handle as much hair as 145 lint roller sheets, the equivalent of two to three sticky tape rollers.

So making it economical gives them permission to slack on the environmental impact thing?

While I understand your decision not to purchase it again, I invite you to try one of our new biodegradable, plant-based Nature’s Source™ products with our compliments; I will be mailing a full-value coupon to your street address today.

Oh yes, that totally makes up for it.

Thank you for the opportunity to learn from your feedback. Your comments will be shared with our Pledge® team.

Regards,

Consumer Relationship Center
SC Johnson, A Family Company
Toll Free Number: 1-800-558-5252