Rain Rain Go Away

It has been raining for days with more to come. Mindy thinks it is a game when we towel her off when she comes back in the house. As long as the sump pump keeps running we know the basement is dry. The rain garden is full of rain.

At least all the snow is gone.

Knitting at Panera

Every Monday from 4PM until 6 PM, a group of 7 senior ladies meet at the Panera restaurant to knit. Panera has several groups that meet there.  I know that there is another knitting group that meets on Tuesdays. It is fun to sit and talk, sometimes we don't even knit, and we certainly don't tackle any project that requires serious concentration.  This Monday I got a Panera reward of $1 off my beverage and a birthday pastry. I usually bring home supper as a carry out.

Accuquilt Go Cutter

I bought the Go Cutter on recommendation by many of my friends. I borrowed the die to make the hunter square quilt.I have the EQ7 software.  I really use it a lot but don't know how to do some of the fancy stuff yet. It is great for playing with color ideas and getting an idea of block and border sizes. Unfortunately the die is designed for a two color quilt and I wanted four colors so there was some waste of fabric. 

To make a long story short I ran out of fabric.  I wanted to make a queen sized quilt but I only have enough of the white to do a double, which is the size of the bed in my guest room, but I didn't have enough off the green for even that. I can use some of the extra pieces in a table cover at some layer time. Now I am generally discouraged. It is a Joann fabric so I think I will have to run to several Joann stores to see if any have some left.  It isn't online. The white fabric is a white on white and I am sure I could mix another fabric in and no one would notice.

Frixion Pens

I find marking a quilt, in preparation for quilting, is a very tedious job. If I am going to do an all-over design, I like to mark the quilt before I sandwich it. If the design is linked to the design of the piecing I can do the marking as I quilt, if I am doing it on a large frame.  The fan quilt will be done on a hoop so it is easier to do it ahead of time. This time I used the Frixion pens.  They are my favorites. On the leaf quilt I used a chalk pen when the design went over dark fabrics. The Frixion pens are nice because they don't fade as you work which is really important when quilting on a hoop. The markings disappear with heat. A quick pass with the iron or I found that they disappeared when I washed the quilt. Probably because I put it in the dryer. I understand that they can reappear in severe cold temperatures but I haven't had that happen. I have used the disappearing pens but often they disappear faster than I can quilt. The water soluble markers work great , especially on fabrics where nothing else will stand out, however the tips don't last long and it takes several to mark a whole quilt. I have used the graphite pencil but they were messy. I had an instructor suggest slivers of soap but they rubbed off very easily.

Hubby and Grocery Shopping

Hubby does all the cooking at our house.  He even makes my coffee in the morning.  He also does all the shopping.  His philosophy is that if it costs more it must be better.  He is strictly a brand name shopper the only exception he might make is Kirkland.  He only goes to Kroger for some staples not their meat,produce or milk. He goes with his grocery list arranged in the order of the store layout. If the store changes that he is really upset. Yesterday they did and the manager gave him a copy of the new layout so he could rearrange his shopping list. Do you think that is OCD?

Pilowcases

I love to embroider. Real embroidery, not cross stitch, is fun and more interesting to do.  I like embroidered pillowcases. They seem to go well with quilts. I have done about eight pairs now and have begun to give them away to the girls.  This set was quite challenging with a lot of satin stitches.

January Quilt Retreat

Last weekend I went to a quilt retreat at Create a Memory Inn in Holly Michigan. My daughter, Gretel, flew in from Brooklyn to join us. With her busy schedule it is a treat to get away and quilt. We had a great time. I got two quilt tops put together and worked on my Dogs in Sweaters quilt.  The pictures are not real good but we were drinking Manhattans and playing Quilt Bingo .