STAMP CARVING

This is my first attempt at carving rubber stamps.   I bought the Speedball pink rubber and the Speedy-Carve 3-piece carving set off of Blitsy ... hmm... possibly 2 years ago?   I got brave and made two different feathers tonight.  While not perfect, I am thrilled and trying to think of what I want to make next.

 

Labour Day Weekend

My weekend is going to begin at noon tomorrow when we leave for Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park (Saskatchewan side because its nicer than the Alberta side and because the showers are clean and free and the firewood is free as well).  There is no wifi where we are camping.  It is supposed to be cool, windy and rain Friday, Saturday & Sunday.   Cypress Hills is often 10 degrees cooler than here.  Oh yay.  I asked my husband,  "So if it is supposed to be so ugly this weekend, why don't we just stay home?"  and the stupid answer I got was, "Because we have reservations."  What he didn't say was that May long and Labour Day weekends are traditionally spent camping at Cypress Hills.

So, I am now the proud owner of fashionable rubber boots, have packed thick gloves, a toque and my winter coat!    I've packed 2 books but I know I won't get to even open the cover of one because we are camping with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law.  Of the four of us, I'm the only one who reads.  (I blame their parents.) I've therefore also packed chocolate chip cookie chips? (something new), hot chocolate, 3 dark chocolate bars,  500 grams of Haagen Daas Cappuccino Gelato (I have no idea what gelato is and want to find out) and 500 grams of Chocolate Haagen Daas ice cream.  Did you know 500 gram containers of Haagen Daas cost more than two litres of other brands?

Picture it, the sound of rain on the roof, while you are curled up on a recliner love seat, wearing sweat pants, cuddly sweater, thick spa socks and a cozy blanket and cute Shih Tzu on your lap; your favourite radio station playing your favourite music (not too loud; not too quiet) while you are reading a good book, drinking hot chocolate and nibbling on a "healthier" dark chocolate chocolate bar!

That sound you now hear is what happens when a pin pops a balloon... because your sister-in-law insists that there is no point camping if you spend any time at all inside your very comfortable motor home.  All meals must be cooked either on the bbq or right on the camp fire.  You are now bundled up in half the clothes you packed sitting on camp chairs huddled around a camp fire while the wind tries to blow your toque off and the rain tries to put out the fire.

I may be quite busy Monday after unpacking the motor home, cleaning it and doing laundry.  I'll be trying to work off the ice cream, gelato, hot chocolate and chocolate bars. Oh, and the  peach pie and potato salad my sister-in-law is bringing.   Have a great long weekend!

Jaxon's Baby Quilt

I remembered at the last minute to take a picture of this quilt before it went out the door.  Unfortunately, its an evening picture and the lighting isn't the greatest.  

I had to put one together in a hurry because my friend, Eva's, baby was born one month early.   She no sooner had moved back to Medicine Hat and got settled in and she landed in the hospital.  Sweet baby Jaxon was so tiny - under 6 lbs. - but didn't need to be incubated.  

I decided the easiest way for me to put a quilt together quickly was to make it a strip quilt.  My first flannelette quilt and my first boy quilt.  

Another first for me - since I own a Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.0, I decided I'd get brave and teach myself to free-motion machine quilt this one.  It actually turned out pretty well for my first attempt.  Since I found dinosaur fabric in three different colours (as well as dogs and elephants), I decided to do lines approx. 7" long, a loop, a line, a loop, etc. width-wise across the wide strips.  It sort of looks like dinosaur eggs being dropped every 7".

CSI - Colour, Stories, Inspiration!

I discovered a wonderful challenge blog recently that inspires you to improve your journalling skills.   http://csicolorstoriesinspiration.ning.com   Exactly what I need as I have difficulty coming up with journalling. I was so excited when I started checking out this blog ("ning" in Australia) that I signed up right away and invited my sister, Carrie, to join as well.  Carrie won a prize on her very first layout - how exciting is that!!

We have both done a couple of challenges.   The Scheme:  there are five colours per
 challenge that you must use, at least three choices from the list of Evidence and at least one choice from the list of Testimony.  The second case file per month also includes a sketch.

 


and Carrie's bright and fun interpretation of Case File 168:

 

 



This is what I came up with for Case File No. 169:

 and I absolutely love Carrie's layout.  I wish I had Carrie's talent.  Her pages always look so perfect:

 

my Case File No. 170:

First Rag Quilt

I finally finished making the baby rag quilt - my first.  I had a few firsts with this quilt and it would have gone together very quickly if it wasn't for the many frustrating episodes with my sewing machine losing its tension.  

My beloved Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.0  has had an issue with maintaining tension since day one.  I've taken it in to the shop where I bought it two to three times and each time I've paid around $100 only to be told there was nothing wrong with it, so they just cleaned and oiled it.   If you've ever taken a sewing machine in for repair or cleaning, you know what I mean when I say that the technician doesn't try different types of fabrics when they test it.   They use the basic white medium weight cotton that they use to give lessons - folded in two.   When I tell the store I am sewing  four layers of quilting cotton plus fibrefill, or sewing knits, shouldn't they try to duplicate the type and thickness of fabric that I'm using?  Sorry; I digress.

The quilt-as-you-go technique was  so much easier than trying to quilt the entire quilt at the end - my least favourite part of the process.  Doing the ragging after the quilt is finished... snipping "1/2" fringes" in all the raw seams is hard on your hands.   

I decided to try another first- I was on a roll so why not?  The Pfaff 4.0 has sensor-matic free-motion quilting that I've never been brave enough to try.   A technique I soon discovered requires a lot of practise and patience.  I practiced on a small sample but it definitely isn't the same as doing free motion with a completed quilt.  Even if it is child sized.  I'm thinking it would be much easier with the professional room-size quilting machine that I do not own.  The bulk of the quilt brings you to a screeching halt at times and I had a few "oops" on the wide popsicle border.  After stitch ripping the first attempt I decided to try the simpler design of "x's" that I did on the squares.  

I'm not sure that I'll do another rag quilt.  You save time doing the quilt-as-you-go but at the end, trimming all the raw seams, then running the quilt through the washer and dryer a couple times after its finished... and taking a pet roller to it to pick off three million threads stuck all over the quilt during the fraying process of the "ragging" portion of the project takes up all, and maybe more, of the time you saved earlier.

I actually remembered to photograph this one before I give it away.  I had so much fun finding the fabrics for this quilt.  Absolutely love the popsicle fabric I found!  Well, I love the orange and green frog fabric and the multi-coloured cats too.  Okay, I forgot about the blue bug-gy fabric, the buzzing bees... let's face it, I love all the bright colours. 

Making a Seamstress Dress Form

There are some awesome tutorials out there to make almost anything you could think of.   Pinterest is my absolute favourite site to learn about all sorts of DIY projects.  I was really excited when I came across instructions for a DIY dress form using saran wrap and duct tape to make your body double.  Then stuffing the duct tape body with various things such as newspaper, foam or fibre fill.   One person actually used expanding spray foam!  I'm not sure that is such a good idea as I've watched my husband use it in construction and often it expands more than you want and you have to cut off the excess.   The goal is to make your body double as close to your size as possible.   Once you cut the duct tape off your body (a cut straight up the middle of your back) you have to tape the cut back up very carefully matching the coloured tape you used to mark off bust, waist, hip and neck.  Then, using cardboard to close the neck and arm holes and whatever you prefer to stuff the inside taking care not to overstuff and distort the body.  When fully stuffed, more cardboard at the hip opening to keep the stuffing inside.

I have a very sweet husband who agreed to this task.   It took about an hour and a half to wrap me in saran wrap and then using 7" to 14" lengths of duct tape, and trying to keep it as smooth as possible, wrap me like a cocoon with duct tape.   You need to do it as tight as possible without distorting your shape.  It didn't take long before my heat started rising and my husband had to set up a fan to keep me cooler! 

I now have a mannequin with my own measurements.   I have yet to tape the back seam back up and start stuffing.    I forgot how hard it was for me to stand in one spot for long.  Especially my leg with the artificial knee replacement.   When it was all finished and cut off of me I could barely walk.  I had two sets of stairs to climb to get back into more than just my underwear and didn't think I was going to make it up the first flight of stairs.  I thought I'd walk some feeling back into my legs before I tried to do the rest of the job.   

Yesterday I went to a second hand store that is closing down and advertised 30% off. I went there looking for something that would work as a stand to attach the dress form to.   I was thinking of a coat stand and when I didn't see any I decided to look at the floor lamps.   I thought I'd pick up a stand for $10-$15.  Guess again!  Most of the floor lamps were $85 or so.  I finally found one that had no lamp shade on it and the centre pole tilted a bit to one side.  Typical for me - I chose something without a price tag.  The only person taking care of the store must have been the owners' son.  He didn't seem overly enthused about having to take care of the store.  When he decided $45 would be about right for the floor lamp I asked if he would take $25 for it and he agreed.

If you've ever wondered how much ease a manufacturer has built into a pattern, and don't have the patience to make a muslin version of the outfit first to make sure it fits before you cut into your precious fabric.... or having lost weight, having nothing in your closet that fits and needing to alter your clothing until you are sure that you are finished losing and can afford to buy new clothes once again; you'll understand why sewing enthusiasts love a dress-form.   I have looked at them for years wishing I could buy a ready made dress form but usually they are anywhere from $350 to $500.   Last month Fabricland had theirs on sale for $190.  Still, I can't justify that cost knowing full well that my weight goes up and down like a yo-yo. 

Since I haven't quite finished making mine; here is a sample picture from the tutorial I found.