How bad was I?

Well, we stopped at a bunch of quilt stores on our vacation. I even got into a shop hop. It was my first one, and probably won't be the last. It WAS a lot of fun...and the damage...? (Still wants to turn the picture!)

It comes out to about 37 yards. Not great, but not as bad as usual. It looks bad, but most of those are single yards or fat quarters. Some good sales, and the batiks in the middle/top and the brights on the left were grab bags. Good ones too. And one can never have too many lights, which originally was my goal...

Now to washing ironing and putting it away.

Vacation- To Sudbury, Ont. to Chicago, to home.

We are taking the Scamp and hitting the road. Probably the only vacation we get for a while, so we are jumping on it. Well, I can, Bill can't. It started out we got the truck fixed, the camper checked and we were ready. I was having ankle trouble, of course, my GOOD one, so not sure what fun that was going to be. We just happened to bump into the chiropractor at the bank, and he said-"I'll adjust your foot" and so he did, right there. SWEET. Love him, and LOVE living in a small town!!

We were hoping to get to do some sight seeing. We were going to stop at Pictured Rocks national park in Michigan. I hear it is awesome. But when we got there, this is what we saw:

It had been raining for 2 days, and it was actually thicker then this when we stopped. We couldn't even SEE the lake beyond the beach, 50 feet in front of us. We drove on and camped at Grand Marias, Mich. We parked, went out for dinner, and came "home" and went to bed. Rather disappointing, since the next day was nice, but we had to leave.

We then crossed over into Canada at Sault St. Marie and noticed the truck was leaking "something". "@%$%$%&(**(_&%$#@" After spending $1700 to get it fixed, it is NOT supposed to break! We still don't know what it is, and hope to get it looked at tomorrow. We are constantly checking fluids, but have not idea. Nothing is low. Fricken vehicles! We are now in Sudbury, Ont. It is a big town, and too much traffic for me!

There is a nice park and trail around the lake that is in town, and we decided to check it out. Since Mr. Brown hurt his back, he has not been doing so well, but is better on and off. We decided to give it a try, but after a BLOCK, we knew it wasn't going to work, he has no strength in his back legs, poor baby. So, we figured that if WE were going to get any walks in, HE has to get a ride. So we thought we better go get a stroller or something.

And THIS is Buster's new ride...

It is a bike trailer/stroller, since we figured he/they can still go with when we go for bike rides too, and fits the big dog. Spoiled rotten mutts! But, I think he likes it! He would rather be out sniffing, and doing meet and greets, but I don't think he minds this too much either...

And we can carry all of our junk too. Win win. It worked great, and then MY ankle gave out! Whatever!

They also have an awesome sculpture in the park, mining related, of course. The detail was amazing.

And, of course, where ever Bill goes, there is live music. Walking in the park, these guys were playing, so we went up and checked it out. They were pretty good, but were almost done when we got there. (And there was a banjo player...)

Then we went to lunch. We of COURSE had to have fish and chips. When in Rome....

YUMM. The line says it all...I am not really into french fries, but give me fresh chips with vinegar, and I am ALL there! And out of an Airstream, no less!

Enough for one day. Hopefully we can get the truck looked at, and it is nothing serious. We have Internet for the next couple of days, so I should be able to check in again.

Poop Bag Holder Tutorial

As promised, I did up a tutorial of how I made these bags. Pretty simple, but seems to have taken a long time! I was trying not to forget anything, and hope I didnt. Here we go. If anyone has any suggestions to improve these bags, or if I forgot anything, let me know. I would like to improve how I write these things out.

Supplies needed:

-Pre-quilted fabric-6"x12" and 3-1/2"x7"  (these are estimates, big enough for one bag) Scraps are great for this bag, maybe after making some other bag...
-Matching Fabric-for tab-2-1/2" x 4-1/2"
-Plastic bags-I got mine from the dollar store. They are the small 4 gallon bags. (You will have to make measurement adjustments for your size bags, if they are different.)
-Plastic strapping-or something to stiffen the ends. (I save all the good parts of the plastic strapping that packages are wrapped in. This bunch came from insulation, when I helped a friend insulate their garage! She thought I was crazy- THEN...!)
-Caribeener
-Compass, or circle cutter-I used my circle cutter for the first time, but NOT the last!

For those who need to make theirs a different size, or want to know how to figure it out, hope this helps...if you are making the same size, you can skip this part!

Mine are 2-1/2" circles (finished). To find out how long your piece has to be, (sorry guys, this involves math...!) you take your circle (2.5) x 3.14 (Pi, remember that one??) and get 7.85, (.875 is 7/8", so I say-close enough!) I used 7-7/8". That, plus 1/2" turnover for each end-hem and sleeve for plastic (my strapping is 3/8", yours might be bigger, in which case add more)

plus, 1/2" overlap on circle. Makes 10"-again-close enough. I will make the overlap a bit bigger on my next batch, to make sure the bags don't fall out....they haven't been "field tested" yet!

• Cut 1 pc.-5-3/4" x10"
• Cut 2 circles-3" (adding in seam allowance of 1/4")
• Cut 1 piece 2 1/2" x 4-1/2" (tab)

                        

Fold tab piece in half, press. Open and fold both long edges in to center fold, press. Fold back in half, press, sew on both sides close to edge.

If you don't have a circle cutter, use a compass, and your old fashioned SCISSORS!

               

                          

Cut 2 strapping pieces at 5". Trim ends so it slides in easier.

I serged all around my rectangle piece to help prevent fraying. You can zigzag also, but make sure either is less then 1/4", or it will show! Maybe some of you can adjust your sergers, I can't, so will just zz next time! (or maybe I can, and just don't KNOW it!) 

Hem ends at 1/2", leaving room for plastic strapping. Insert plastic. My plastic had a "curve" to it after being wrapped up. I inserted the curves so that when together, they pushed against each other. One was up, one down. I thought this would help hold the bag closed.

Mark bag at 7-7/8" on both sides.

Right sides together, overlap on each end to your mark, and tack down.

Fold sewn tab in 1/2 and tack on right side of bag. (Sorry for fuzzy pics.) 

Sew in end, RST, back tacking, taking 3-4 stitches at a time realigning circle so that it is aways at the edge. Not too much fudge room for a 2-1/2" circle. Do other end, and turn right side out. Add caribeener and bags and you are done!

And for those of us with lots of friends with dogs...

Mass produce!

I have a feeling I will be making more!



Strings

I love strings. Strings, for those of you who don't know, are the cut offs (1"-2.5" in my stash) after straightening your fabric for your "real" cuts. I always cut mine a bit larger to make "strings". They are normally what would be thrown away, but hey, they are care free fabric, where you make "new" fabric, and who cares what it looks like. This is one string quilt I made:

I am working on another, which I will post when it is done. Strings to me, even tho I love them, get overwhelming. As you can see, I have a ton of them. I had to separate them into lights and darks.

I bet this bucket has 4-5 queen quilts in it! Believe it. I have a few more project ideas running through my head. There are a ton of options out there, it will probably keep me up at night...and I can't even start talking about "crumbs". I save those, and can't wait to dig into those too!

Did I say something about SPRING?

Never mind....it was, but now it isn't. Rumor has it, it will be back but it doesn't feel like it. April 18th, usually by now, the ice is off the lake and it has been nice. Last week, we got 6 inches of snow, and it hasn't really warmed up. It is evening, and it is 34 degrees. Those pics I showed in my last post of the water in the creek, it has slowed down some. It left this, with hopes of spring...

This is on our point, (150 feet from the house) looking to my left, facing the lake, where the creek comes out. The ducks are loving it, and I had high hopes that soon, the ice would be off, but look farther, the bay is still closed.

This is looking to my right, it is only open 3 feet from the shore. Right there, were there is flowing water. Notice, the rest is still ICE. Probably not very thick, but not OPEN WATER. And then right in FRONT of the house...

Down on the shore, it has RE-frozen, it was at least open a LITTLE a couple of days ago. (That dark thing is the cover for the garden water pump...)

We still have snow in the yard...and I bet the ducks aren't liking it too much either.

O.k., I am done ranting. I just want to sit on the deck in the sun and start on outdoor chores! (Did I actually SAY that out loud??)

Took a hike...

Every year when spring arrives, I like to hike behind the house in the creek which flows behind and passed the house to the lake. I love to play in the water, and break up the stick dams with dead leaves that get carried on to settle who knows where. It is good exercise, good to be out and good for the dogs to get out and get rid of some of their spring fever energy too. The water drains from the lake north of us, and the swamp in between. It is great for the oxygen in the lake, which is great for the fish, and is usually the best fishing on the lake when the creek is flowing. Sometimes it flows with heavy rain, as it did last week, but of course now is spring run off too. For those of us who love waterfalls, it is a good time of year. 

Most of the year, it is pretty dry, and green with massive amounts of ferns and some flowers. And of course BUGS, so I don't venture back there in the summer much. This is usually when the loons come back, when there is a bit of open water, so we should be hearing them any day now. Some people don't like spring because of the mud, but this is a wonderful time of year, when all the birds come back, (the noise increases!) the lakes open, and things come back to life. Of course, that means the start of summer, which then is CRAZY, and by the end I am ready for winter again! But for this day, I am really glad it is spring!

More Things In The Making...

I am trying to get a bunch of things finished and in the "completed" folder of my life (not that there won't be something to replace it!) but first, I finished Katie's top, that I crazily thought would be done for Christmas! I did start it in Oct., so I am trying to decide-"is 6 months good for me, or bad??" I like it a lot, and since I have about 30 yards of this line left, I believe I will be making myself one-a queen. I just have to find a different pattern. You are never too old for Dr. Seuss....

Then, I almost finished a spare Scrappy Toes in purple and green. binding didn't go so well, so I stopped, and will finish it later, hopefully not TOO much later...

I have a queen size ready to put together that will look just like this. I had extra blocks (miscounted, and didn't think I had enough...) so there it is, thought I would try out the border layout to see if I liked it. Works for me.

Then, I decided to finish another one of these in this pattern of which I had blocks done, was going to make a queen, but decided I am really tired of this patten now. After the queen, I hope to retire it for a long time, although, it is quick and easy.

I REALLY need to work on this:

It is king size, and I have to draw it out differently, by hand, and change a few blocks to make them more user friendly. It is a wedding present for Mark and Li, and last week was their 1 year anniversary. See what I mean about the 6 months? this will take forever, but it is rather intimidating, so I have been procrastinating. Sorry guys!

I should at least be working on the snails trail blocks, so that I am not putting it ALL off, then at least they will be done when I need them! Yes, that is what I will do! While working up the courage to start on the center....

So, a few more tops to add to the "collection". Of course these are not all "done, done", but at least the spares can wait till later.

Still waiting for the snow to melt. it might actually get up to 40 today! (39 now) and I can start to see patches of grass around the trees, but I bet we still have a foot in the yard. UGH. And I cant even bring myself to THINK about getting the campers out yet! (we pile all the snow in front of them...) but I am really ready for camping season, but of course, not the bugs...