Sunday, October 2, 2016

Sunday and No Real Stash to Speak Of.

Here we are at the end of another week and today I really don't have much to talk about. And I don't really have a stash.

First and foremost my winner of the Cheryl Brickey design is.....drumroll....cymbal crash...KaHolly!
Tish will be emailing you your pattern! Congratulations! And to all those that commented thank you so much for stopping by.

So, what is up?  Not much.  Tish and I fought my Yvonne's Snowflake Shimmer quilt onto batting with the backing. That was the first time we had basted something that large.  Making a long story short, we had tried to get her's done almost a month ago and realized we had got batting that was cut to short.  So, she had to buy more.  Today "we" decided to do mine.  Tish felt that she wanted to get mine done so that I had a chance of winning the associated giveaway.  I told her she has much more "luck" when it comes to winning. She insisted, and so we started a process that ended up with us arguing to a small degree. I had a plan, she got some items to help with the plan that ended up not working out.....The problem-  she is vertically challenged and is not "long enough" in the arms and upper body to complete the process.  We were working on the largest flat surface we have which is our kitchen floor.  Unfortunately, it is longer than it is wide and we could only work on a 24" section at a time. Rolling, spray basting, and flattening. Needless to say, it was all but a bust.  It is sandwiched, but looks bad and the batting, we had cut, had some major flaws....Urgh!!!! She documented the process with some pictures.  It was sound logic and process, just didn't work out for us.

So, she has previously watched a video that works off centering the  sandwich set up on a table. We will have to clear our sewing area, which is the only table space we have, and make an effort to accomplish this.  I don't know that either of us will be ready in time to be in the final blog posting/giveaway.

** Warning- Small Rant**  I am thoroughly burnt out with politics and the direction this country is going.... I had to get it off my chest. I am at an absolute loss when it comes to the next presidential election.  Will be so glad when it is over. More-so, I lament for the future generations regardless of what transpires.  I fell for the most part we have failed our children.  Instead of media, internet and television, we should have been teaching them things like Fabric Dying, Quilting, Hunting, Gardening, Construction....things that will make them self reliant and a help to others, instead of people in need of "safe spaces" and only concerned with WIIFM...or what's in it for me.  END RANT

Quilting Retreat 1.0-

We will be attending a retreat of sorts this weekend-ish.  Julie at PinkDoxies is hosting this...somewhere in Ohio... I can't help but think this (Ohio) is where I am meant to be in life as a whole. Mom is in Ohio and many people I know or were school friends with are there. Anywho, we are headed there for a "quilty" weekend...and I am guessing is somewhere "near" Amish country. It is my understanding that we will be making a day trip of that at some point... I think. Ok, so, really I don't know much of anything about what is getting ready to transpire for me...other than I know Tish doesn't drive so I will be at a minimum, a chauffeur.  I do know that there may be some fabric dying in the process, which does make me happy.  I do hope I can get some RFD fabric before going.  It is my understanding we have a local store that has some.  I told Tish to ask Julie what we will be doing, and  to get me enough to do what she is thinking would be a good process.  This really is the one thing that I am looking forward to.  I am not much for driving long distances anymore...and am in reality, to young to be feeling this way.  But, for those that like Star Wars out there....I would make an excellent Jedi.  Hermiting suits me well.  Being in the law enforcement line of work it really makes you appreciate privacy.  A common saying in WV for law enforcement is that you aren't prejudice...you hate all people equally.  It is terrible to feel this way, but you really do get an opportunity to see some of the worst society has to offer. You also get to see the results of people (or the results there of) doing abhorrent things to themselves and others.  Needless to say, without knowing what to expect, i just hope for some relaxation.  I plan to take Looking Glass 2.0 with me to work on and I do have fabrics from the quilt guild meeting that I believe I also posted on before.


I'll take these with me too.  I have a pattern picked out and will put some green or maybe a light brown/beige as background and will make a Thanksgiving style/colored table runner that I will likely give away.

So those.....are my "Sunday Stash" I know I have used the LG 2.0 before, and I was thinking I posted the stuff won at the quilt guild, but maybe not.  Regardless, they are posted now. 

A small new piece about me....I love Thanksgiving.  I hate hearing Turkey Day and I despise the fact that football is so integrated with the season. It makes me sick that Thanksgiving is basically skipped once Halloween is over, and we go straight to Christmas.  I refuse to put anything Christmas up or out until after Thanksgiving has come and went.  My sister was fortunate and blessed enough to received our Grandma Stemple's dinning room set which happens to be Walnut I believe.  It is super heavy and beautiful. We had started a tradition of going to see my sister and spending Thanksgiving with her about 3 years ago in North Carolina...It truly is something I look forward to.  We lost my dad in 1994 and then my grandma in 1996, so those family times with my sister are even more important to me than ever.  I am not sure that all things are going to align to allow us to go this year.....Finger's Crossed.  Another thing about this time of year is hunting.  It is something "Stemples" always did.  However, after loosing dad it just lost its appeal to me and this year Jenny said she really doesn't want to go anymore, so for me hunting is more of a necessity for food than it is for the sport or the family time.  I may go....but right now, my heart is not in it.

So, to tie this long post up one more shot of a couple blocks I made for the trip.  I, unfortunately, do not know may of the people with the trip we are about to take.  I do know that we made the special blocks for a special project.  Tish told me everyone was making a block and she said I could to.  She said one is a green maple leaf and the other a blue star...I think that is what it is referred to.  I actually had some blue fabric I had pulled to do a green and brown small set of blocks from several months ago...so technically it was my stash...pulled from Tish's stash and I had it stashed away on a table chair that no one ever uses.  My corner don't match exactly right. I didn't have my brain fully engaged when I was squaring up my HST and that was a large portion of the problem. The leaf is where HST issue came in.  The blue star I actually sewed 2 blocks together backwards, so in true Davethequiltengineer fashion, I unceremoniously ripped out the seams ( as I do in all projects) and commenced to correcting the mistake.


I will see some of you all soon enough. To everyone else, happy quilting. And again, to KaHolly congrats, and to Cheryl thanks for allowing me to do the giveaway, thanks for the great patterns, and please keep the designs coming.


5 comments:

  1. Congrats to KaHolly, and many thanks to Cheryl for her generosity once again. I came in from outside in the heat, and found an email from Tish with those wonderful words " You are a winner" so I now have a fantastic " Vintage Star" to look at and fantasise over for fabric choices. Dave, your fabrics are amazing together, and I do hope after driving, and driving, you get to enjoy the rest of the retreat.

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  2. Your blocks look great to me! You're right about Thanksgiving being skipped over, sounds like a great tradition ya'll have started.

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  3. Dave, I am thrilled to be the winner of your give away! Thank you very much for the opportunity. As I told Tish, this is a pattern that I seriously intended to purchase. I'll have to mull over my other favorites of Cheryl's and pick a new pattern to buy! Re: your rant. I'm in total agreement with you, and I'm sure I'm not alone. There are a lot of things going on right now that make me glad I'm at the aged end of life and not just starting out. With all the elders passing, my family just fell apart, so try to keep your traditions together!! Once again, I enjoyed your post! Enjoy your quilty retreat and thanks again!

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  4. Have fun at the retreat. I wish I was going but maybe next year!

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  5. I'm so sorry to hear that basting was a bust on your Snowflake Shimmer quilt! :( I know you will both persevere and get it done, but I'm still bummed the original plan and try did not work.

    It sounds like you are up for a fun weekend. I hope you get to enjoy more than just chauffeur duty. Fabric dying sounds like a treat, Julie does beautiful work!

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