Pinwheels, interrupted

Just when I think I have myself convinced that I don't need a separate sewing room and I'm getting along just fine sewing in the kitchen, something happens like today and I flip-flop faster than an Olympic gymnast.

I finished all my pinwheel blocks and was joining the rows. I was pinning row 5 of 7 when my husband came in and remarked that if we decided to make more than the planned salad for supper, maybe we should call and invite our friend T. to eat with us. Now, T. is a good friend whose family lives 120 miles away. He works in our town, so he rents an apartment where he lives during the work week, and commutes on the weekends. He also has been sick recently. We try to invite him often for a home cooked meal that he didn't have to fix. Considering how he's been feeling, I thought that asking him over for dinner was a good idea.

So, I folded and put away the quilt in progress, unplugged and removed the sewing machine from the table, put away my ironing board and iron, packed up my sewing tools, swept the threads off the floor and stowed my cutting board and rulers. Then I could set the table and start preparing dinner. My husband and I could not have prepared a meal or eaten in the kitchen with all my sewing stuff spread out everywhere.

Tomorrow, I will bring all the stuff back into the kitchen, set up the sewing machine and ironing board, unpack my tools, get the quilt blocks out of the bag and in order, and start anew where I left off.

How much time I could save if I had a dedicated sewing room where I could leave everything just the way I dropped it and shut the door!

Pinwheels!

This is why we keep several projects going at one time. I completed all the blocks for the gift baby quilt and started on the pieced border, but got so burned out by the pattern that I needed a break. Luckily, the next Linus quilt was cut out and waiting. It has a "delicious" border fabric printed with cakes and pies and ice cream and goodies, and the pattern is pinwheel blocks made of coordinating fabrics: dots, stripes, prints. Here and there I am interspersing a variable star block or a dutchman's puzzle block for variety.

Compared to what I have been sewing, pinwheels are easy, pinwheels are relaxing -- pinwheels are just what I needed. And they are completed so fast! I'm pinwheelin'!

Rotary cutters

Joan commented on my last post about oiling my rotary cutter blades and I want to say thanks and pass that idea on. I never thought about oiling the blades; maybe others hadn't either. I do try to keep my cutters ready for action. Several years ago I bought a whetstone arrangement for taking the burrs off rotary blade edges, although it doesn't really sharpen them. It's like using a steel on your kitchen knives; it straightens the edge and takes out waves and burrs. It's very useful and I find that it extends the life of my blades. Unfortunately, I'm rather cheap on buying blades and continue to use them long after I should have chucked them. I changed the 45 mm cutter blade this morning and tried it out, and it was like, WHOA! That was easy. So I need to take better care of them.

I also remembered that I had a small cutter! I had forgotten about it since I hadn't used it for ages. I bought it to use with Shar Jorgensen's template sets, and it was packed away. I exhumed it and tried out the Winner's Bouquet templates. They are wonderful! Very easy to cut out with the small cutter. One thing I am going to invest in for using templates like this is a rotating cutter mat. I don't have one yet and have relied on using my smallest mat and scooting it around manually.

But, believe the manufacturer when they recommend putting Invisigrip on the back of the templates. They are a bit slippery, especially when compared to the Creative Grid rulers with the non-slip grippy dots. Those rulers, BTW, beat my old Omnigrid rulers hands down. Very stable and not slippery, and no Invisigrip required.

I got out my Meadowbrook scraps and cut out four Winner's Bouquet blocks just to try it out, and the curves go together so smoothly. Don't be leery of the rounded edges. These are very gentle curves that practically fall together. A few pins and you're there.
Don't you love that jump-start you get from a new tool or pattern, when you want to plunge in and sew, sew, sew?

The dangers of a slow, rainy afternoon

This is what happens when you are faced with a boring drizzly afternoon and feel like you deserve a treat after going to the doctor. Yep, a trip to the local quilt shop, and I didn't return home empty-handed.

First, I decided that shirtings were a category that was lacking in my stash, so I picked out eight pieces and bought 1/2 yard lengths. Then, I remembered that I wanted to get some steam-a-seam for the planned cat applique quilt. And, oh yes, I needed new rotary cutter blades. I had been using the sharpener on my last one for too long and it needed to be retired. Before I reached the checkout counter, there on my left were those wonderful Winner's Bouquet templates that Elaine Adair wrote about. I couldn't resist.

And finally, those yummy fat quarters were FREE because this purchase filled up my punchy-card. I especially like the one that looks like old book endpapers.

I've been a bad, bad girl.

Not just a pretty face......

....it's a really nice desk lamp too. I finally got my lamp. Kudos to Bellacor, where I ordered it Tuesday and received it today, with free shipping and the lowest price I found. I even like the brushed nickel finish. Whew, that's over!

On other fronts, I haven't stitched a stitch this week because I have been planting flowers. My hanging baskets are filled with purple scaevola and the flower bed around the birdbath, a mixture of perennials and annuals, is complete. No pictures yet because the annuals are those 4" tall plants from the six-packs and will need a few weeks to look like anything. When they're blooming, I promise I will post a photo. I have tomatoes and bell peppers in pots because I don't have a garden plot anymore, but we have done this for several years and the plants do fine. Two large (large! about 30" diameter) pots will grow all the tomatoes and peppers the two of us need, with plenty to make tomato sauce for the freezer.

The large pots flanking my driveway were planted with the most beautiful coral-y orange new guinea impatiens with varigated foliage. These are shaded most of the day, and it was difficult to find something that was large and bright and showy, but didn't need sun.

My azaleas are fading, but the blooms were outstanding this year. The dogwoods didn't bloom as much as usual, but last summer was very dry and they were stressed. A little TLC and extra watering this year, and they'll do fine.

My back yard makes me happy when I look outside from my office. The white rose bush is covered with buds and will burst forth soon with the loveliest old-fashioned roses. There are hanging pots of lavender African Daisies on the trellis beside the maple tree. Once the white dogwood and hot pink azaleas fade, the color scheme in the back yard becomes blue, purple, orange and yellow, one of my favorites. I'm not much for red and pink flowers, but I love yellow. It also goes nicely with my brown-y tan brick house with blue shutters.

It's been a lot of work getting here, but my yard is ready for summer.

In search of the perfect work light (part 2)

Well, I THOUGHT I found a desk lamp. Today I got an email notice that it is backordered from the manufacturer and won't be available for 3 or 4 weeks. Did I want to wait until they notified me it was back in stock? WEEKS? I pulled up their website and looked at the lamp. There, under the price were the words "In Stock". Yeah, sure.

It didn't take me long to answer. A: No, I wasn't going to wait weeks for a product you said was in stock now. B: This kind of slimy business practice is enough to assure me I never want to do business with you.

Back to the hunt. Someone has to have this stupid lamp in stock without exhorbitant shipping charges.

Project Linus update

I have added the four new Linus quilts to my slideshow in the sidebar. I'm especially happy with the owl quilt, the one I call "Give a Hoot!" The bias striped binding really added a little snap to it. I was also amazed to realize, when I hung up the one I call "Wild Thing" that gave me so much trouble, how nicely it turned out. The dot and dash border is interesting and the teal binding finishes it nicely. What with changing the border and all, I was so tired of it I couldn't really see it. While photographing it today, its beauty came through. The one with the pastel colors and the bunny border still doesn't photograph well, although it looks quite nice in person. When you photograph it, all that comes out is the orange, but it's more balanced in person.