It happened again. I was happily sewing borders on the Superstar quilt top, when the clock struck four. I only had two strips left to sew, so I figured I could just keep going. I got the second to last one on and went to iron it…

Yep… I sewed the stupid thing on with the wrong side out. No idea how I didn’t notice… it’s not exactly a small piece of fabric… but … I plead pumpkin brain.

And to top it off, I’m about four inches short of purple fabric for the last border strip. I was sure my math was right… but apparently not.

I was fretting over what to do… the purple is from Missouri Star – I could order more but this quilt is on a deadline, and by the time the fabric got here, and I got  it on, Mom might not have enough time to quilt it…

I considered cutting the borders in half lenghtwise, and using the cut fabric to give me enough, but then the quilt woudn’t be large enough, so I’d have to add an extra border – I might be able to get more of the dark grey floral at Lens…

But then Mom came up with a better idea! Cornerstones! I have enough of the dark grey floral left to make cornerstones. I just have to get my measurements right, but it’s definitely doable!

I’m determined to finish this one and get it to Mom by the end of the week. I just have to do it before 4 p.m!

 

 

After I got my first tattoo two years ago, I said I wasn’t getting another. It wasn’t that I didn’t love my tattoo or had a horrible experience – quite the contrary. I just didn’t really feel the need for anything else.

Then last year, I saw pictures of some dandelion tattoos on the internet… and an idea started percolating…

Then last month, Samantha (my partner in ink) told me she’d booked an appointment for some new ink. And that really got the wheels rolling.

She was able to get me in with her, and last Thursday, we had a little playdate where we both went under the needle(s)

Everyone told me the wrist (my first location) was one of the worst places to a tattoo, so I figured this wouldn’t be as painful… boy were they wrong! It hurt like the bejeezers…. but in the end, totally worth it

I know have my own little wishing fairy!

Samantha, as usual… handled the pain much better than I did. (Though her’s were much smaller…

She got her mantra on the inside of her bicep.

And the cutest little spider on her ankle.

And that’s enough ink for us…. for now at least 🙂

Blue Girl is blooming! Isn’t she pretty. She’s not really blue, but a pale mauve.

Garden Party has opened up too, and she’s a stunner. Beautiful cream, which just a hint of blush.

Ebb Tide has bloomed and it is satisfactory. It’s actually not quite a purple as the picture shows (more a very dark wine), but I can live with it. Unfortunately, it’s a shrub rose, so it’s not great for cutting (a lot of buds on one stem) but it’s a lovely addition to the yard.

I was starting to think the dark pink Armeria wasn’t going to bloom (it usually blooms the same time as the light pink one), but it finally put up a few flowers.

The Lavender is just starting to bloom too. I love it because it will bloom all summer.

And last – a little mystery for you. My peonies have bloomed at last, but something strange has happened. You may recall that these were transplanted from my father’s garden a few years ago. It’s taken them all those years to finally bloom here… but here’s the mystery… my Dad’s peonies are DARK pink.

How the heck are mine LIGHT pink???

How the heck did that happen? I’m not going to complain – they are beautiful, and I actually prefer the lighter shade… but can ANYONE explain???

Most of my sewing has been in a bit of a limbo the past little while. As you know, I have five project boxes, and I don’t allow myself to start anything new if they are all full.

The current projects are:

• Superstar
• Dragonfly Gallery
• Disappearing Hourglasses
• Scrappy Cabins
• Leaders & Enders Four Patches

Superstar is awaiting fabric for borders (it’s been ordered and is on its way). I made a bit of a boo-boo with Dragonfly Gallery – I made too many blocks. While it means I’ll end up with a nice large quilt, it also means I ran out of the plain green Honeybun fabric, which I need for the sashing (again, more is ordered and on its way). Disappearing Hourglasses is going nicely, but I can’t do more than a few blocks at a time, or I get pumpkin brain. And of course, Leaders & Enders can only be worked on when sewing something else. So that just leaves Scrappy Cabins.

The plan was, like the Hourglasses, was to try to sew up a few every day or so. I’ve sorted all my scraps into like colours, and each block is neutral/cream/white on one side, and a colour on the other.

This means I’m going to need A LOT of the neutrals. And I just didn’t have much. I didn’t want to make too many blocks, because I want to be sure there’s a good mix in the neutrals throughout the whole blanket, so the cabins have been a bit neglected.

That is until Mom came to the rescue.

She let me raid her scrap bin and add several new fabrics to my cabin stash. So the other day, I sat down and stitched together a few pink, and a few brown cabins.

It’s definitely going to be one heck of a scrappy quilt!

BONUS STITCHES:

You should be seeing a finished Tuxie Love quilt soon. Since it’s just going to be a kick around blanket for me, I told Mom she could absolutely use it as a practice quilt on her new machine. As soon as she’s done with it. I’ll get it all bound and photoed for you to see.

MORE BONUS STITCHES

Here’s little Miss Ro with her vintage Singer 99K.

“Hey…. is that catnip?”

I know I said I was planning to finish the Empire Line cardigan by the end of May but…

.. yeah. That’s all that remains of the first sleeve. It was just knitting up way too wide. It’s suppose to be a bit of a bell sleeve, but this one was going to do some serious dinging. I knew I wouldn’t be happy with wearing it so big – so it was time to rip back and try again with a smaller size

But not quite yet.  Here we are halfway through June… and I really need to get moving on the Fair stuff. So Empire is going into hibernation until at least September. Hopefully when I pull her out again, I’ll be super motivated to finish those sleeves!

I think I’ve said it before, but when it comes to garden plants, one of the biggest bangs for your buck is definitely Dianthans.

I bought them a couple years back, and they were labels as annuals, but they came back the next year, and the year after. In truth, they are a short-lived perennial (usually three-four years), but as they are often sold as annuals, you can get usually get them in four-packs  for just a few dollars (at least around here).

And once they get established, boy do they bloom!

Just look at those flowers! They come in a huge variety of patterns and shades. And They bloom like crazy, all summer long. They love sun or shade. You can’t get any better than that!

Dad’s thick socks were completed with plenty of time to spare. And I’m happy to say, I was able to get one pair out of just one ball of the striping yarn. As you may recall, I bought two balls of each colour, so that means I’m going to have A LOT of yarn for thick socks or a while. Though that’s nothing to complain about.

Now that these are done and dusted, it’s time to get another On the GO design underway. Stay tuned!

 

As of last week, there’s a new little member of the Wandering Cat clan. Meet Miss Winnifred

When Mom’s cat Deuce died last summer, she wanted to bring another cat into their home, but was worried that Jem would be too rambunctious (otherwise, Mr. Burton may have stayed there.) But Jem is a year older now, and a little calmer, so when her work friend knew of a kitten in need of rescue, Mom decided it was finally time.

She’s just a wee little thing – we think no more than five or six weeks, and she only  weighs about one pound. When Mom brought her home, she had a severe upper respiratory infection and her eyes were constantly covered with mucus. She was the only survivor of her litter, and Mom knew without quick intervention, she wouldn’t make it.

But a trip to the vet soon set her right. She’s on antibiotics, and got a cream for her eyes. I saw her on Friday and she’s already infinitely better than she was. She’s certainly a tough little thing. She’s got an independent streak a mile wide. While she is quite a cuddle bug, when she’s on the move, there’s no stopping her.

The dogs have been fabulous with her and she has no fear of them.  In fact, she frequently chases them. Mr Tibbs is a little put out, (he’s a mama’s boy) but I’m sure he’ll come around soon. He missed Deuce quite a bit.

The vet thinks their might be some Maine Coon in her, but we’ll have to wait and see on that. We’ll know for sure when we see how big she grows. Right now she’s just a round little puff ball with stumpy little legs.

And the strangest tail I’ve ever seen! It’s going to be so fun watching her grow.

Welcome to the clan mini Winnie!

Wyoming Breezes asked me to do a post about my sewing machine, which she glimpsed in my L&E post the other day.

It is not a Featherweight, as she suspected, but a Singer 201K.

It was made in 1949 in Scotland… and it was Dave’s Grandmother’s machine.

How it ended up in my hands is a bit of a story. Last year, or the year before, Mom some how got involved in a vintage sewing machine forum. She had her Grandmother’s Singer treadle machine, though it wasn’t in good shape. After being on the forums for a while, she decided she wanted to get her hands on a Featherweight, because she was thinking of taking some sewing classes, and the Featherweights are much more portable than her modern Husqvarna. Soon enough she found one, and the next thing you know, friends, neighbours, coworkers and others, are all turning up with “old” Singer machines they had kicking around their house and didn’t want. Next thing you know, Mom is a full-on collector, collecting almost every model Singer put out between the late 1800s and 1960. She learned how to tune and fix them, and in the case of the machines in tables/desks/cabinets, she started contracting out the wood refinishing to Dave.

And suddenly Dave said “I’m sure there is a Featherweight kicking around Grandma’s house.” As you may know, some of the Featherweights can be worth a pretty penny, so we went on the hunt for it. We never did find it, but the 201K turned up in the garage. The desk was in terrible shape. For the last 40 years it had been used as a work bench/craft table by various members of the family.

The machine itself was in need of a lot of love mechanically, though the paint and decals just needed a good cleaning. Between Mom and Dave, they had it restored in a matter of weeks.

It was supposed to stay with Mom (she didn’t have a 201 in her collection yet), but given the history, she decided it should live with us. And here’s it’s been ever since. I use it almost daily. Dave’s grandma (who turned 90 last month) was thrilled to know it’s been given a new life. I made her Christmas present (place mats) on it and she was just tickled by that.

It’s not 100% original. Mom put a modern, LED light on it and had to replace a few other pieces. Almost all the bobbins were rusty, so I have all new bobbins for it. It also came with plain striped face plate, but Mom surprised me with this beautiful Celtic one at Christmas.

Despite it’s decoration, it’s not a fancy machine. It only does straight stitch, though it does have reverse. (I have a modern 1993 Singer if I need to do anything this one can’t do.) I’ve been able to get some fancy feet for it, including an even-feed foot, and a free-motion foot, both for quilting. This model has the ability to drop the feed dogs, so I can free motion on it (they call it the “darning” feature in the original instructions – which were still in the drawer!)

The feature I really love is the knee-lever. While it does have a foot pedal, it also has the knee-lever, which allows you to power it by pushing your leg against the lever. I find it’s much more comfortable than the foot pedal, and easier to control speed.

And as for Mom and her Featherweight that started it all…

well, it found a few other Featherweight friends, as well as other models. She now has 15 vintage machines in total – all working (and she sews on them all). She has treadles, and hand cranks, as well as electric machines. She has machines in large desks, small cabinets, and wooden carrying cases. She did give one Featherweight to Paisley, and a 99K  in a small desk to Rowan.  I guess we’re all just Vintage Singer girls!