Quilt Guild Challenge Results

I won Second Place!!!

I was really pleased with all the chatter about my quilt. And it was funny that most people didn't guess that it was mine. So without further ado here it is:

Can you guess the song? Take a good look at it; even click on it if you have to to enlarge it. Well, if you guessed the folk song "The Scotsman" then you are correct.

Here is a close up of the Trapunto quilting technique I was telling you about from my last blog entry. Hey every Scotsman quilt should have six-pack abs don't you think?

As you may know, this song address what a Scotsman really wears underneath his kilt. Well, my version had to be 'family' friendly as it will be hung at out quilt show in a public library. So, this is what my Scotsman has underneath his kilt.

Below is a video of the lyrics and the music from youtube. I first heard this song sung by my friend Nancy Flanagan. She plays the Mountain Dulcimer and graced us with a small concert at one of out first quilt retreats. I've loved it ever since. I hope you enjoy it too.



I really had a blast making this quilt. It was so much fun! I've been knitting so much this winter that I had forgotten how much I really enjoy quilting. It's so stimulating and yet relaxing too to cut up a bunch of fabric and sew it back together.

I'll post pictures of the other challenge quilts in a separate post.

Challenge Quilt

We have had 3 quilt challenges at my quilt guild. The first one I did not even do. I can't remember what it was, but I wasn't feeling it so I didn't even attempt it. The second one was the paint chip challenge. I finished my top, but didn't get it quilted. I still don't have it quilted, big surprise right!?! Then, last year, Helen issued a new quilt challenge for us. We have to pick a song and then make a quilt based on that song. I thought and thought, but couldn't come up with a song that I would like to do. Then one day "THE" song popped into my head and I knew it would be perfect, IF I could figure out the logistics of it. Well, I played around with the idea for awhile even embellished the idea a bit. Of course I procrastinated the whole year away, but eventually started on it about 2 weeks ago.

I'm so excited to say it is almost done. All I have to do is put the binding on it, which I am planning on doing tonight. Sorry, I cannot tell you what it is yet. But we will be turning them in on Thursday night. So I'll post pictures on Friday.

I will give you a little hint. One of the special effects I used was Trapunto, which is a quilting technique that is quite decorative in that it utilizes at least two layers, and is then padded from the underside. This produces a raised surface on the quilt. This style originated in Italy before the fourteenth century. This was my first attempt at trapunto, but I do think it turned out very well.

I can't wait for you guys to see it.

All I Can Say is OMG!!

Woman causes crash shaving bikini area while driving

http://www.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=12107993

It Blows My Mind

I just heard on the radio that some city in California is planning to start charging it's citizens if they make a 911 call. I believe around hear, we have a fee tacked on to our phone bills or something like that. But Tracy, CA is taking it to new highs. Due to a shortage in funds, they are going to start charging a $300 fee every time someone calls 911 unless they sign up for a yearly contract of $48/year.

So if you're strapped for money, and can't afford the $48/year membership fee, because let's face it we know there are people out there who can't, you now have to make the decision to let your husband/wife/child suffer and possibly die because you can't afford a $300 fee.

Here is a scenario: You're in a hotel visiting this fair city and someone in the hall has a seizure; is unconscious. What happens if you call 911? Do you get charged $300 or does the unconscious person get charged?

What if your neighbor's house is on fire?

Can you imagine how many people are not going to call 911 if this happens?

I've Come to a Conclusion

I've come to the conclusion that I just eat out too much. I need to cut back, not only to save money, but to make sure I'm not eating too much junk.

The only problem with this is that I have no idea how to plan my meals for the week. How do I know what I'm going to be hungry for next week?? I have in the past, bought items, thinking they would be good to eat next week and then either didn't want it or didn't have time to cook it. I've lost count of how many bunches of broccoli or cauliflower that have gone bad languishing in my fridge.

Another problem as I see it, is that I don't really know how to cook for one. I end up with too many left overs that have to be eaten for both lunch and dinner sometimes 3 days in a row. That really puts me off cooking.

Last night I made shrimp scampi or something very similar to it. It tasted good, but I have enough for lunch/dinner today, lunch/dinner tomorrow. In the hopes of not OD'ing on the shrimp so quickly, I brought along a sandwich and veggies to eat for dinner tonight on the way to my quilt bee group.

Any ideas?? Either tips on learning how to plan my meals or on how to cook with less leftovers??

Updates and New Toys

OK, I've been busy working on my Ravelympics project - Gail. Here is a "bad" picture of it. I tried to take a close up of the pattern, but it was too blurry. I'll have to pin it out tonight.

I had to take last night off though. I'm prone to Tennis Elbow when I knit too long and it was starting to hurt on Tuesday night when set my knitting aside. I'm going to try knitting tonight, but probably not as many rows as I have done before. Maybe I should knit a couple of rows, take a break, knit a couple rows... We'll see how it goes. I am anxious to get this done so I can start my next new project.

Which leads me right into the "New Toys" topic. A year or so ago, Knitpicks.com had a colorwork bag pattern for sale as a kit. I was too intimidated by it to even contemplate buying it. But now that I have tried knitting colorwork, I think I'm ready to give it a try. So I went looking for the it. The kits are no longer available, but I was able to get the pattern and yarn. Here is a picture of the bag. It is called Sipalu created by Kerin Dimeler- Laurence. Ain't she beautiful?!?!

I got the yarn to do the orange/fall colored bag. The pattern calls for 17 balls of yarn, but if I read it right, that is enough to make 2 bags. I figured it out that if I bought the 17 balls of yarn, it would actually have been more expensive than buying one of their Sample packs which has 21 balls yarn. (All different colors of course) And since it was such a bargain :o) I bought the Sample Pack . It came in the mail on Tuesday. Can't wait to start it! Still need the right size needles though.
I did buy 3 extra balls in the orange colors (on the left), because I really wanted my bag to look like the fall colored bag. I played with everything Tuesday night and have all my colors figured out. It will have more green in it than what the picture shows, but I cool with that.

While looking on-line for the needles for my Sipalu bag, I ran across an interesting link on Erica's Sewing Center web-site. Joyce Roberts of Arkansas, sent in a great new idea for storing all your knitting tools. I was floored!! I have been looking for a solution to all the different containers that I have my needles in and low and behold she found one. Thank you Joyce for the wonderful idea.

It is called the StitchBow Needlework Travel Bag and it is made by DMC (as in DMC embroidery floss). It works perfectly for storing my Knitpicks options circular needles, Boye interchangeable circular needles, DPNs, and crochet hooks. Check these photos out.

Nice expandable handles and an outside pocket.

See the dark spot in the lower left corner? It's piece of dark felt for putting your needles in. Thanks to an idea by Antonette, I'm going to put saftey pins there to hold my stitch markers. There is a 3-ring binder inside that hold floss binder sheets that are perfect for storing your needles. 1 sheet comes with the bag when you get it, but you can buy more in packs of 2.

I put a piece of paper behind it so it is easier to see it. Here are my Knitpicks Options Circular needles. Each sheet flips out and you can store the needles on both sides. I plan to label all the pockets with the appropriate needle size. (Just need to buy batteries for that pesky label maker)
It even fits your 8" DPN's.


The front and back sides have nice big pockets for storing all your miscellaneous items also.

I took this to my knitting group last night and they were all oohing and aahing over it. I just know there is going to be a stampede once everyone realizes they can buy these at JoAnn's with the 40% coupons.

No pushing or shoving ladies!!!

Ravelympics Begins!

Team Michigan
Events: Lace Luge and WIPs Dancing

Well, it will at 9:30pm tonight at the start of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. I can't wait. This is my first time participating in the Ravelry Olympics (ravelympics). You are supposed to start a project or work on a WIP (work-in-process) project with the idea of pushing yourself to finish the project before the end of the Closing ceremonies on February 28th.

I'm going to be working on a shawl Gail (Ravelry link) and also my Bagged colorwork tote bag that I started last September. I figured 2 projects would probably be my limit, however there are people signing up to do a lot more. There's no way they could possible get them all done. I think signing up for too many would just overwhelm me. I wouldn't be sure what to start first.

Tonight I am going to Heidi's house to watch the opening ceremonies with several other knitters as we begin our projects. Should be fun. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

If you don't have a Ravelry account, click here to see a picture of Gail from the designers Flickr page.