Quilt, Cats, Tools, Zipper Pouch & Bricks

After I finished the scrap quilt last week, I left it on the wall to just look at it and see what I thought. Everytime I looked at it, it always looked too busy. I think it needed a visual break. I had been to Scrap moving sale & got 18 yards of some cotton ecru fabric that was only 12 " wide.  It was $2 a bag for fabric scrap and I picked up a lot of upholstery samples, 18 Yds of 12" wide cotton ecru fabric as well as a lot of other fun pieces of fabric, I came home with about 10 lbs of fabric for $2. Anyway....The quilt top looked too busy. I wanted a border but I didn't want the squares to look too separate...I wanted the squares to blend together some way. I think splitting the sashing in half and adding a colored piece of fabric helps cut up the light border and connects all the square. It's still quite busy but it has some visual resting spots that help move the eye through the quilt. I want to use this to practice my long arm quilting. I'm taking another class on how to use the long arm quilting machine at Modern Domestic next week and I want to use this quilt to practice. They have a new machine and so I have to take the class again. I don't mind as I'm sure I will learn something I don't already know. Arty likes the quilt...she posed for several photos. 

I talked last time about my job at the Tool Library, this is what I see when I walk into work in the morning  It's in the basement of the Historical Kenton Firehouse. It's kind of cool going to work at a historical firehouse. More on the library later.

 I made another triangle zipper pouch using Melody Miller fabric again. I like the heavier cotton that she uses in her fabric line. The fabric line is Ruby Star Rising. I'm trying to clean up the inside of the pouch. Instead of just stitching or serging the ends inside the pouch I attached bias tape.  Bias tape coves the raw edges inside but I think it's still just as nice if I  serge the raw edges. The bias tape also makes the pouch a little stiffer along the two seam lines. It's also difficult to find a 4" zippers in town. I have found a few on line but nothing at my local fabric shop. I can get 10 red 4" zippers for $5 from a woman in California or 25 different colors for $10 from Amazon. I will have to do a little more research on zippers. So far I have been using the zippers I have at home and cutting them to size. I really like making these little pouches. 

 CLEAN BRICKS!!! A friend took out his chimney and had a lot of brick in his driveway. Friends kept telling him that they wanted the brick and would pick some up but them be discouraged at how hard it is to clean the brick. He delivered some brick last week and I spent about 4 hours cleaning this brick. It's pretty simple once you get the hang of it. It's just time consuming and if you don't set up a table to put the brick on while you hit it...your arms will get sore. Holding on to a 5 or 6 lb brick while you it it with a hammer is hard on your arms. Believe me...I know. I learned the hard way...set up a small piece of wood with a lip all around, that will keep the brick in place as you hit it with a hammer. It's messy so alway set out a tarp under your table. Our friend was very happy to deliver some more brick this afternoon and I hope to clean the rest next week. I need to complete a small walk way behind my garage this summer. 

Sample Rugs, A New Swing Cover & A Band

I made some samples of my Pendleton Rugs to take to some local shops. You really don't get a good idea of how textural these rugs are from photos. They are thick and soft, kitties love these small rugs. As you can see Artemis wanted to lay down on these gems while I was trying to take some photos. These samples are about 12" around and would make nice little cat beds. 

I finally pulled the old cover off the swing in the back yard. The original cover lasted about 5 years before I cleaned it and painted it, it then lasted for about 5 more years before it was completely gone.  I had replaced the cover in June of 2011 with some nice outdoor white fabric.  As you can see the white lasted about 4 years and since it was white it got dirty very fast and looked terrible. I bought some blue outdoor fabric at Mill End last summer but never got around to making the cover. The fabric feels like has been covered in a plastic on one side so I'm hoping that it's waterproof. In one of the last wind storms the top of the swing blew off and bent the metal frame, that forced me to take the cover off and finally pull out the blue fabric to make a new top. I also used a heavier fabric for the sleeves on the underside of the top, the area that the metal frame goes through and holds the top tight. I was unable to get the top really tight because the frame is bent (as you can see from the final photo of the swing..see how it dips down on the right in the back?). Last time I used some cute cotton fabric that quickly disintegrated. I used some upholstery fabric on the long sides and some scrap of the blue fabric on the corners. I pulled my Morse sewing machine out to the yard and stitched up the top for the swing. It was nice sewing outside on a sunny day in February. I used my Morse machine because it's a work horse, this is the machine I found in the dumpster outside a hoarders house that was being cleaned out. I took the machine in for a tune up at Montavilla Sewing, it cost about $100 and I have a new PINK sewing machine. It's a very heavy sewing machine but it is a great machine, I used it to quilt a jean quilt that I made a couple years ago. Anyway....back to the swing...even though the metal frame for the top is bent the swing is now ready for summer. I may have to make new covers for the cushions as the fabric has really faded. But that is a project for another time. 

  

We went out to the World Famous Kenton Club to see a band that a friend recommended, they are called the "Git Rights Gospel Revue". They are a cross between gospel and punk rock, my husband loved the band so much he "testified" by dancing all night. They are a lot of fun to see, the female vocalist Heather Jo Cahill has an amazing voice, she can bring you to tears when she sings.