Get It Done - May 2013

Yes, I know I've still got a few days left but it doesn't seem that I'll be getting my list anywhere close to done this time around.

1. Nana's Quilt

I finished piecing the main portion of the top a week and a half ago and its been sitting on my design wall with one humility block still in place (or should I say, the wrong place) ever since.

 I finally decided on a border today.

But I'm going to try to connect the inner blue border across the corners. I'm just not sure how to illustrate that in EQ7.

The rest of my list just didn't even get attempted.

However, I did finish the following projects, that were not on my list:

1. Bind "Disappearing Cube Trick"

2. Made a Sewing Machine Apron

Which really is a thing of beauty because it was made completely from my stash from a scrap box of 9 inch squares and I got to use some ugly fabric for the back that I never have to see.

However, it did make me realize that I need to rethink my sewing room setup. Right now the L-shaped table is really convenient but I can utilize only about 60% of my cutting table. I need a better plan.

Its getting to be Ragnarok time, so my list for May will be mostly garb related.

May Get It Done List

1. Finish Nana's Quilt completely by Mother's Day
2. Make three garb shirts for Jack
3. Make at least two pairs of garb pants for Jack.
4. Finish my gray surcoat, and my purple surcoat.

April isn't quite done yet, so I'll update this later if I make more progress.

April Block Swap @ QuiltingBoard

Just thought I'd post a quick note on the quilt block that I received today. It came on the perfect day since work was kind of nasty and I needed the pick-me-up. My theme was any pattern star block in jewel tones.

Its Dagorhir Season!

Its time to start thinking about garb. Also, I seem to be in a bit of a quilting rut. I have lots of projects but I don't really feel like working on them. So we are switching it up.

For the uninitiated, Dagorhir is a nation-wide competitive medieval reenactment society, made up of like-minded folks who love wearing medieval garb and swinging swords at each other.

Well, just like every year, unexpected expenses are preventing me from spending oodles of money on garbing supplies. I must attempt to re-purpose what I have and create something I like out of garb that I don't like.

Project #1

I threw together this surcoat, a combination of a pattern for a corset and "winging it" from a surcoat I liked in a medieval shop,  a couple years ago and it never fit me properly. I think I wore it once. Here it is on my dress dummy:

Surcoat Back

You can see the sides are split, awkwardly. This would be because I naively made the tails straight when I have curves! Ugh. It totally looks like it was made for a guy. So the dress I wear underneath sticks out all funny. The waist is too low, and the shoulder straps are too long. And of course, it is COMPLETELY lined, making adjustments difficult.

So when I pin everything to where it is supposed to be I get the following:

That looks so much better doesn't it? Haha! I think I may be able to fix it by folding the top over the bottom like so.

A little stitching and a little trim or accent fabric and that should work out okay. It won't be as finished or polished since I'll have to cut into the lining but I think I can make it work. Then I will tackle the problems with the skirt.

More to come! My good friend Ravenna is also prepping for Ragnarok and here is her blog if you are interested in learning more: Ravenna Designs

A Weekend of New Things

I'm stuck at home right now feeling generally miserable but trying not to dwell on it. So I thought I'd write a positive post - I'm calling it my weekend of new things.

My two favorite young gentleman (5 and 4 yrs old) had their third karate class yesterday. Manda and I take them every week and they always have a great time. This week they practiced 5 or 6 new exercises. I enjoy watching the class and I have to admit, it is hard not to get up and try the karate exercises. I may look into taking a class myself soon. Then we ate lunch at Pei-Wei (I tried the black peppercorn chicken - it has asparagus! Delicious, very spicy.) and ran off to a Rock and Gem show where Rune, Riylan, and Morric of Anga Corma were demonstrating chain-mail.

Image copyright Anga Corma

Next on the list was the attempt at an alfredo sauce last night. I was trying to make Olive Garden's Steak Gorgonozla Alfredo (one of Jack's favorite meals out). Just a quick heads up everyone - if you pick up an cheese blend to make alfredo sauce, make sure its Parmesan and Romano only. Mozzarella turns your cheese sauce to glue. Thick goopy inedible glue. Sorry, I didn't take any pictures of this particular disaster. It was actually kinda gross looking anyway. The steak was mostly salvageable but a couple ounces of steak a meal does not make. Jack was a good sport about it and even offered to "cook" pizza for me. One phone call later and Pizza Delivery Guy came to the rescue, yet again.

I found a sewing machine "caddy" at JoAnn's last week and thought it was a brilliant idea and wondered why I'd never heard of it before. Think an apron with pockets for your sewing machine, so that all your pins, scissors, etc are right on hand.

I really really really wanted to whip one out (along with a cathedral window pincushion) but decided to be good and finish a project I had already started first. Since I'm trying new things this weekend I pulled out my Disappearing Cube Trick wall hanging and added a binding, using Sue's Magic Binding technique that I found on "52 Quilts in 52 Weeks" I really love this, its much easier than hand-stitching a binding on and looks very nice with the two layers of color.

I also made cinnamon rolls in the waffle maker for breakfast this morning. Again, highly recommend. They don't really taste like cinnamon rolls and they don't really taste like waffles, but they take about 3 minutes to cook and that is a total win in my book. Just put the refrigerator rolls in the waffle maker and cook until done. Perfect for Ragnarok.

What Border?

I want to do a pieced border for Nana's quilt, only I can't decide which one.

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Anyone have an opinion? I'm open to suggestions.