Found!!! Ott Light Bulb

I found my Ott Light bulb! Yeah!!!! I had a package of batting that I wanted to use for my fireplace quilt and I unrolled it and out poped my missing Ott Light bulb! I was almost ready to go and buy a new one. I swear, I looked in every box of fabric and clothing I had since the move with no luck. I had all but given up on finding it when I found it. I knew I had put it in a safe place!

Big A** Bug

Ok, this is creepy. What the Hell is this? We were on our patio and it was getting dark and my Husband looked down and said "Is that a Bug?" Oh My God, Yes! What is it? It was almost 2 inches long and looked like a really bad ass ant! Sorry for the language but they don't have things like this in Missouri! If you know what this is, please let me know. I think we have moved too close to Los Angeles and it is a Transformer. It is going to turn into an Automobile or Bus or something! Decepticon!

Update: It is called a Dark Jerusalem Cricket. I have 2 web sites below that describe it. It is also called a "Potato Bug". We had "Potato Bugs" in Missouri but they were a quarter inch long and were also known as "Rolly Polly's". Big difference! I think I will keep these insect guides handy!

http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Dark-Jerusalem-Cricket

http://bugguide.net/node/view/39450

Fireplace Quilt and New Design Wall

I added a small border with a brown batik fabric and I like this better. Now is when I need to decide how to quilt it. My friend Marci thinks I need to do straight lines. I think so too but they need to be tilted a little and not be stitched straight up and down. I will finish this and then try it out over the fireplace. My Husband is dubious about it. We will see......
I needed a design wall and I have gone around and around about what to do. I thought about covering a board with some fleece and hanging it on the wall but this would take up space that I could hang my quilts. I have been taping my Fireplace Quilt onto the closet doors in my sewing room in order to look at it. It dawned on me that this would be the perfect place for my design wall as it is an unusable space for anything else but a closet door.

I had some left over 3M Command Strip hooks and I stuck them to the little border above the closet door and bought some curtain clip rings to hang off the hooks. I then attached the fleece to the rings.

I now have a design wall that I can remove and store or pull aside in order to get in the closet! No more wasted space! I bought some little curtain weights in case I needed to weight it to hold it straight but I don't think I will need them. Problem solved!

Art From Waste!

I have been looking at my "Fireplace Quilt" for several days now. I don't know why I don't just finish it. I bought this brown fabric to make a small border thinking it might help get the look I want. Hmmm.

Anyway, yesterday I sewed together some of the scraps from when I trimmed the blocks for the quilt. I kind of like this. It is very small but I can see framing this piece and not doing anything else to it, leaving the raw edges. Art from waste!

Crazy Quilt Class

I pieced this block for my Crazy Quilt class using a fairy fabric I found. I used the fairy fabric for the colors and fabric that I used in the block. I have my last embellishment class next Tuesday. I signed up to teach the same classes again in the fall. I need to embellish this block.

I pieced this block in class. I have not sewn the trims down yet. I usually just tack them because I will embellish them with embroidery. I think I will piece a third block in the class in the fall and then I will have a wall hanging with three blocks. Maybe I will start another project for the Fall class. I just don't know yet.

On another note, my new friend Dorene gave my friend Jeanne and me several boxes of vintage ties. I haven't gone through them yet but it was very nice of Dorene. Exciting!!

Fireplace Quilt, Maybe?

I pieced the blocks for the fireplace quilt and hung it on the closet door in my sewing room. I like it but I am unsure if this is really what I wanted. I also taped it above the fireplace to see what it looked like and I just don't know if the colors are right. I may start over but I will finish this one anyway.

Fireplace Quilt

I needed some Art for over my Fireplace in the Family Room so I thought what better to put there than a quilt? I love really rich jewel type fabrics so I have put together some that are golden brown, purple, blue, green, etc. I have used the "Stack and Slash" method for these blocks. At this point, I am not sure that this is what I want but I will finish it anyway because I like the colors and fabric. This is after I cut the pieces and re-arranged the fabrics.


This is the stack of blocks.

This is them spread out to see all the colors. Love them! These started out as 10" squares of fabric and ended up being about 9" wide after sewing them back together.

We finally finished our back yard landscaping. Our yard is very small but we back up to a foothill and no one can build back there so it is very private and quiet! This is looking to the right.

This is looking to the left. That hill over there means no one can build on that side either. I love to cook with fresh herbs so there are my herbs in pots. We have 3 hummingbird feeders and they are very busy. I have been able to count 10 birds at one time on them. They are so fast.

This is the side yard. I have a vegetable plot there for tomatoes, peppers and zucchini. The soil is pretty poor here so I have tried to amend it a little but it will probably take some time to get it where I want it. I have a dwarf Lemon tree, too. Doesn't this look like a stream bed? I might put some of my Ozark Rocks, that I brought from Kansas City with me, in there. Kind of like a Japanese Rock Garden. That is decomposing Granite in the stream bed area. It glistens in the sun.

This is the other side. They built this little retaining wall at the bottom of the hill and put decomposing granite in the path. They did a really nice job. Jose was very much a perfectionist and a very nice man. I would recommend MNR Landscaping to anyone in the Southern California area. They like it when you make them toast for breakfast!

I taught my Crazy Quilt Embellishment class last night. This is the stuff I was putting together to take to show them. Threads, Beads, Ribbons, Sequins, Oh My!!!!