Yes, I Basted!

Okay, so yesterday I stuck to the schedule. I basted hexies!!! Still more to go, but I'm getting there.

I have now sponge painted 3 out of the 4 top pieces! (I'll paint the last one today.) But I just couldn't wait any longer...

Last night I started the hand stitching. Yes, I'm leaving the tails and knots on the outside. And after stitching each shape I trim out the center so the white fabric underneath shows. 

I do hope this top fits me when all this is complete - it looks so small! If I can't wear it, then maybe one of my daughters can. 

Look what came in my e-mail yesterday!!! Lorraine has finished her Bliss - isn't it fabulous?!!! Lorraine, thanks so much for sharing this with all of us!

There is a haze of smoke hanging over our neighborhood this morning - someone is burning something off somewhere outside the area and it is bothersome. We watched the 'fog' episode of The Crown last night and it is eerily similar. Hope it dissipates soon...

I swam again yesterday afternoon - that's 3 days in row. I'm getting back in the swing of swimming regularly after the holidays. 68 laps yesterday! And I met two nice women to boot!

I'm not sure what I'll do today. I wouldn't mind going to a local antique mall if I can get Hubby to join me. And I may work on those nine patches for my UFO project that I DIDN'T get done Thursday.

I hope you have a wonderful Saturday!

No Sewing...

On most days I machine sew for about 2 hours each morning. Yesterday was the day for my Basket/Winding Ways UFO. It didn't happen. I needed to run some errands - grocery, Hobby Lobby, Target. I usually run errands on Fridays - my hexie day - and I don't miss a beat. But by the time I got home it was time for lunch. Then there might have been a nap. And then....I decided to go swim (64 laps). Who is this person!?

As soon as I got back home, Hubby came in the door from golf and we took Cooper hiking. And when we returned it was time for supper. Boom - day gone!

Before I ate my dinner, I mixed some acrylic paint and fabric medium (purchased at Hobby Lobby earlier in the day) and sponged the mixture on my top piece. Voila! Much better results! And SO much faster! Today I'll sponge paint another top piece - 3 more to go.

And last night I cut out the next Farmer's Daughter block - lots of orange in this one.

Though I'm not letting myself buy new clothes YET, I knew I needed new bathing suits. I was swimming in mine - how's that for a pun! Haha! I love Target swim suits - I went in the store yesterday to buy something else and noticed the bathing suits had come in! Yay! I came home with two new suits - in size MEDIUM! What? Me, in a MEDIUM? What the hexie! My previous suits were XL. And that is one reason I HAD to swim yesterday afternoon - had to wear a new suit!

Rodan and Fields
So many nice comments from you guys yesterday! Y'all are so sweet and supportive! As soon as I get them, I'll send out free samples to those of you who asked for them. Any more takers? I want to be sure I order enough! And I also heard from some of you who already use the products and love them! One person said she's used them for 4 years and her husband calls them the 'Fountain of Youth!'

Okay, guys. It's HEXIE DAY!!! Yippee! Let's get this party started!

Another En Provence Block and a New Venture!

I stitched up another En Provence block yesterday - one third of the way there with the blocks - then onto the sashing!

I'm still trudging away with tracing the stencil on my top. I lifted up one side to give you a peak. Ugh! It looks okay, but this process is just not good. I'm thinking I might get some white acrylic paint and some fabric medium to mix together and sponge on - it would go so much faster! I'm just ready to stitch already! I may run out to Hobby Lobby later today...

This happened last night - I finished another Farmer's Daughter block. These tiny little stitches make me smile!

And here it is! Remember, this block is made from my En Provence scraps - love it!

And my news...

OMG! I can’t believe I’m saying this or that I did this! But I’m glad I did!

What did I do?

I became a Rodan and Fields Consultant! R and F is a phenomenal skin care company. I had been thinking about using their products. Then I received some samples and tried them. My skin and I LOVED them! Where had this soft, glowing skin been all my life?!

Now that I’m on the backside of my fifties, I’ve decided it’s FINALLY time to put ME first. Yes, I’ve been losing weight and have never felt better. But my skin was looking dull and sallow and a bit saggy. And yes, wrinkles are creeping in. I’m not much of a makeup person anymore – a touch of eyebrow pencil and some lipstick are my basics. As women age I think they look better with less makeup. But it sure helps to have glowing skin! Don’t you agree?

I’m so impressed with the Rodan and Fields products – they do a PHENOMENAL job of evening out skin tone and getting rid of blotches and redness and wrinkles. I don't mean to sound vain, but we all want to look our best, right?

So I was convinced to use the products – no brainer here! BUT…I realized I could get a big savings on them if I became a Consultant. Now, being a former Engineer, you know I’m the kind of person who analyzes and researches EVERYTHING to the nth degree. And that’s what I did! I studied the company and how it works. I learned that they have a money back, empty bottle guarantee on everything they sell. I learned there was absolutely no risk of losing anything.

I learned that there is not a big investment required – only $45 is needed to become a consultant.

I learned that I do not have to do any selling out of my home  - no shipping – no packaging! This was important to me! I live in a small home and don’t have room for inventory, nor do I want to stay busy selling and shipping. It’s all done via the Internet – if someone wants to buy a product through me, they simply go to my website (juliacwood.myrandf.com). They buy and it ships directly to them – YES!

I learned that two women dermatologists are at the head of the company – they developed the products. I love a company driven by women!

I learned that the company expanded to Canada recently and the business has EXPLODED there. I learned that R and F is now about to start up in Australia – the same EXPLOSION is expected there. Because the Australia launch is coming in the next couple of months – now is the time to jump on board if you live there! WOW! You could be on the ground level of something HUGE! And if you’re in Australia – there is NO COST to become a consultant! That’s a big deal!

I’m not in this to make money (I just want the discounts!), though if I do it will be my ‘Mad Money’ – for quilting supplies, of course! But MANY women DO make a lot of money in this business. One of my daughter’s software engineering friends has quit her job and DOUBLED her previous salary as an R and F Consultant – all while staying home with her three children. Oh, and she drives a Lexus she’s earned as an Rodan and Fields reward. 

And so that’s my news! I’m absolutely thrilled that my skin is becoming so lovely and I get a big discount on the products. If you’re interested in trying the products, email me with your address (juliacwood@mac.com) or send me a Facebook message – I’ll send you some samples as soon as I get them. Or let me know if you have questions.

Though most blogs are filled with advertisements - I've NEVER done that. My blog is my gift to all of you who read it and I don't want or expect compensation. And I promise I won't turn it into a skin care blog. BUT, I will share when there is a special or something interesting going on at Rodan and Fields. I'll always put it at the bottom of the post so you can skip it if you're not interested.

So here's to great skin! Have a quilty day!

Dresdens and Stencils

I made THREE dresden plates yesterday - woohoo! That brings me up to 9 made out of 28 - almost 1/3 done with these! This just goes to show you that a bit of time once per week can help you toward your goals. And do you see that SUNSHINE! The weather is warm - we'll be in the 70's for the rest of the week - wow!

And later in the day I finished cutting my stencil. I could just eat this pattern up - I love it so much!

It's hard to tell, but in the photo above the stencil has been pressed to one piece of the fabric.

Now I thought this would be the easy part - tracing the stencil openings with a fabric marker. I was wrong. The tip of the marker tends to catch the fabric, grabbing it and making it move a bit. It just takes a bit of time and patience. I am about half way done with tracing one of the four pieces of fabric. I plan to trace all four pieces before moving forward to the next step. I can't wait to get to the hand sewing! And clear my dining room table again!

Today is En Provence day - I'm hoping to get more blocks sewn together. But first I'm going to ease into the day with a cup of tea. And maybe we'll go for a swim in a little while.

TV watching - we started Goliath on Amazon last night - recommended by one of my friendly readers (THANK YOU!) - it's very good!!! Since Hubby retired we seem to be making better use of Netflix and Amazon TV.

I'm wishing you a very nice day!

Bliss Borders!

Decision, decisions. First I needed to decide whether to chop off the uneven edges OR to appliqué the uneven edges to a border fabric. I obviously decided to trim it all down!

I pulled out several different border choices yesterday...and kept coming back to my old favorite: a black and white stripe. I already have some graphic black and white fabrics scattered in the quilt - so this relates to them. And it also serves to calm the colors along the edges. In my eyes, you can't go wrong with adding a bit of black and white. But what to do on the corners?

I decided to cut cornerstones on the bias; this will keep the stripes radiating outward.

I haven't decided yet if there will be additional borders...but I have a week to think on that, now don't I? (I'm leaning toward adding two more borders...)

I did a bit more stencil cutting, but I'm not done yet. I should finish it in a couple of days or so. And today is for...dresdens!!! Let's see how many I have by the end of the day!

I don't know if you noticed, but I added a little something over on the sidebar of the blog.  I'm adding each quilt that I complete this year to a list, linking to the blog post on that particular quilt's completion. I've also added a list of books that I read this year, again including a link to Amazon in case you want to read more about them. I am really doing this for myself - I would love to know at the end of the year how many projects I complete and how many books I read.

We stayed up late last night watching the football national championship game...we're a bit sleepy and bleary eyed this morning. Eye doctor appointments went well yesterday - neither of us needs new prescriptions which is an instant money saver. Hubby will be getting some new contacts though.

Hubby's about to head out to get my car tuned up and have small recall issue fixed. Then he'll be off to the golf course. And me:  you know I'll be sewing up a storm!!! And maybe I'll go for a swim.

Have a great day!

Progress Made on My New Top

I found my cd drive in the third place I looked - yay!

Then I had to find some tiling software to print out the pattern in separate sheets that I could tape together. Done! And I used the pattern pieces to cut out the fabric.

Then I had to do the same thing with the stencil - run it through a tiling program to print and then tape the pages together.

Then instead of using template plastic, I decided to use freezer paper.

I traced the stencil onto the freezer paper...

And I even began to cut out the stencil!  I'll keep it on a cutting mat on the dining room table to work on here and there when I have a moment to spare. Once I've finished cutting the stencil and marking the fabric, it will be time for hand sewing!

Lest you think we are starving ourselves around here...here was last night's dinner. I used this recipe to prepare the chicken. I made a modified version of the sauce in the recipe using just nonfat plain greek yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, cayenne, and a bit of tabasco. We had fresh mustard greens and a nice salad. What a delicious meal!

And for dessert, I had a yummy tea cake filled with marshmallow and topped with chocolate. I don't have a treat like this every day, but I can and do occasionally. I've learned that I can stay on track long term if I don't deprive myself.

So today is machine quilting day. Bliss is next up, but I need to decide if I'm going to do a border...hmmm. I think I want to. So I'll pull out some fabric today and try to make some decisions. We have eye doctor appointments this morning, too.

Have a great day!

Alabama Chanin

 I hinted in my New Year's goals that I wanted to make some clothing this year in the style of Alabama Chanin. Do you know about this? Alabama Chanin is located in Florence, Alabama, and is the brainchild of Natalie Chanin.

Her laid-back style has been on the runways of New York City. She is the only clothing designer I know of who shares her techniques, writes how-to books about them, and even teaches workshops. Natalie sells fabric and supplies at her website for do-it-yourselfers: AlabamaChanin.com

I've long admired her work. So with my Christmas money, I ordered all four of her books. (I got most of them used through Amazon...)

Here's a photo I grabbed from the Internet that show an example of Alabama Chanin style. She creates the most wonderful textured fabric for garments by using two layers of knit fabric, stenciling a design on the top layer, hand stitching around the stencils, and cutting out the center of the top layer image. Yes, knots are usually left on the top. It's very organic and natural.

Here's the basic top pattern I plan to make first - I'm making the shorter length on the far right. This pattern is included in the book on a cd. But first I need to find my cd drive for my computer - that's on today's list of things to do!

As far as my fabric goes, I order some knits on-line. The white was SO white. So I dyed half of it to a soft gray. I plan to have the gray as the outside layer with the white underneath. 

I did not buy fabric from Alabama Chanin - her's is made from organically grown cotton and is $49 per yard. I'm trying to do this on a budget...

And here's the stencil pattern I plan to use. It's also included in one of the books - I'll trace it on stencil plastic. Instead of spray painting the pattern on the fabric (as Alabama Chanin does) I'll be using a fabric paint marker. 

All of Alabama Chanin clothing is hand stitched. Yes, even the seams are hand stitched. Very couture, no? Of course, I LOVE hand stitching, so this works for me just fine. 

I'll be needing lots of new clothes later this year. I'm getting rid of clothes right and left because most of it is now too big - a good problem to have. And so I hope to make a few pieces in this style to fill in the gaps...a couple of tops, maybe a skirt, and a dress.  We'll just see how it goes with this top first.

So that is what I'll be up to later today. (If I can find my cd drive!) I hope to print out the pattern, cut out the fabric, and maybe begin to prepare the stencil. Once I have all the prep work done, this will simply be another hand stitching project for my evenings.

Despite our COLD weather, we went swimming yesterday. The warm water felt so good! I did skip out on the hike with Cooper though Hubby braved the cold. Today I'll bundle up and hike though. The sun is out and it's a beautiful, though cold day. 

I hope you have a lovely day!

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