KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE MY BLOW DRYER RUN!

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

An Earthquake, A Hurricane And 2 Posts In One Day!

Now you know the world is coming to an end!!

This is my Hurricane Irene baby quilt. It is called Charm Squares Baby Quilt and the pattern is by Oh Fransson! I thought is was an easy quilt to complete in a day or two, it was so give it a try. I think the only thing I would do is make it a little bigger next time. The colors look rather blah in this photo but in real life it is great. I used a gray polka dot for the binding.

I did a zig zag or flame kind of quilt stitch that took a little longer than I thought but I like it and will do it again.

Here is a close up.

In all the craziness this weekend I forgot to wish my baby boy, Colin a happy 30th birthday! His wife, Jenny,  made some special plans that were cancelled for the weekend. They will be celebrating this weekend so keep your fingers crossed for no more storms!
 Kelly

We Are No Longer Amish

This morning as I walked out to the mailbox that smell hit me....the smell of fall, just a little bit of crispness in the air.
I won't bore you with our saga of Hurricane Irene. Suffice to say no power for 48 hours. We do have a generator so it wasn't too bad.

This tiny tree caused all our electric problems....


I worked on my Longwood quilt


Played Scrabble with Bob at night by candlelight...


Washed dishes by hand after I heated up the water on the gas stove....


Listened to the radio...


Made a potholder with Maddy.....


Cleaned up the yard...


Enjoyed a beautiful sunset......

All without power, well sort of does the generator count? I did not finish my Hurricane Irene quilt because the power went out. The family decided water was more important than my sewing machine! We have to pick and choose what gets the power. I will finish it today and post it tomorrow.
My new favorite saying is "Knowledge is power but it doesn't make my blow dryer run"!

Kelly

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Sewing Up A Storm!

I stole that "sewing up a storm" from Rachael who left it in a comment yesterday. It kind of is appropriate for today.....Yes it is really raining hard and they are predicting a lot of water that is going to produce a lot of flooding. I did complete a top and now the challenge is to see if I can have it quilted and bound by tomorrow. There is something about rain the is so conducive to sewing....

Kelly

Friday, August 26, 2011

Hurricane Sewing Party

Well Hurricane Irene is on her way and I plan on making the most of it! Today I am going to get stuff ready so I can sew the entire weekend. It is kind of like a summer version of a snow storm except much more destructive. We will be on the western side of the storm but they are predicting a lot of rain, some tropical winds, power outages (we have a generator) and falling trees because of our already saturated ground. I will not be leaving my house!

I even pulled out some fabrics to make a NEW quilt. I have no busines starting something new. I think it could be a real quick one though and I could call it Irene! Anybody else planning a sewing party?

Kelly

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Slacker

I am a slacker this week.....

No sewing....

I can't even pretend my kids are going back to school........


Is it just laziness?????

procrastination????


The distraction of grandkids!????


or


just


the end


of summer???
Kelly

Thursday, August 18, 2011

A Quilt For David Mx

Here is the start of a new quilt. It is for my brother in law David who lives in New York City. I made him a small wallhanging a few years back that he lays at the end of his bed. I decided he needed a real bed quilt.


Here is my inspiration. These are pictures of his building. The blue sky is really beautiful.....and look at all those details.....

My pallette, I did edit this down quite a bit but still have a lot of different fabrics in the quilt.

I drew some shapes that I saw in the building.

Started to sketch....no I am not feeling this.....


I like this one better but still not what I want.....


This is better.....more what I had in mind....


Strips cut and ready to go. I think this is going to be a fun quilt.

Kelly

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Fabric Surprise

I went to Joanne's yesterday for Wonder Under and Timtex and look what I found.....the next new line of Denyse Schmidt fabric. I didn't like all of them but these I could not resist. I really like that dotty one.

I knew it wouldn't last but when I spread things out it lets me be creative.....one more thing to finish up and then I will put it all away.

I am starting a new quilt for my brother in law David. He lives in NY in a very cool apt. with a million dollar view. This is the inspiration for my color pallette. It is going to be fun, cut and sew, no pattern, no problem...........yeah right!
Kelly

Monday, August 15, 2011

blue

A year later it is still hard to believe. Rest in peace little brother. Duffy Hogan 11/4/71 - 8/14/10.

Kelly

Friday, August 12, 2011

A Sigh of Relief

I have been a little busy and a little preoccupied. Busy making some more of these mini quilts for a local shop, The Quilt Block that wants me to teach a class. Thank you everyone who sent a prayer and good wishes to my sister in law and her brother in law. The kidney transplant went well. At first Jan was in a lot of pain but is feeling much better now. David felt better immediately and is raring to go home! Jan should leave the hospital tomorrow and David on Monday. I was in the hospital longer when I had my kids!....though that was in the 70's and 80's......still we are talking about a transplant! Please consider becoming a donor it really is a wonderful thing to do.


I have a fun little thing to show you today. It is an envelope made from the page of a magazine. It is very green and a fun thing to make.
 
 
First ripout a pretty or appropriate picture for your recipient.


I am using this to mail a post card. I decided not to send it "naked" so it doesn't get messed up in the mail. I put the post card in the middle of the page and fold in the sides.


Next fold up the bottom to make a crease. Nothing is glued down yet.


Put some double sided tape on both sides (see the little red letters).



Remove the paper on the double sided tape and fold up the bottom and press down.


Next fold down the top to make a crease.


 Add tape to the top flap and the sides ....note in this picture I made a mistake and put them on the bottom, they should be on the top.

Remove the paper and press down all ready to go. Please note I did add some clear packing tape to the side to make a little sturdier. Next use a sticker label and send it off. I would take it to the post office to make sure you have the right postage.
You might even be able to get the kids to write thank you notes!

Yesterday my granddaughter Maddy and I spent the day together. She wanted to dump out my selvedges, so I let her. As you can see I need to do something with these, I have a lot! People are always giving them to me.

She is such a little lovey!
Kelly