Katie Jump Rope Quilt Top

My internet connection is bad since we had a very blustery storm come through yesterday. It was chilly and March-like before the high winds and then warm, sunny and June-like afterward.


I'm determined to share this today! Here's a detail of one of the quilt tops I finished in the last couple weeks. I was really gratified to see that the same fabric collection was on the cover of the latest Summer '08 issue of "Quilts and More"


My husband knows just the right thing to say. Immediately he noted, "I like yours better." Have I told you how supportive he is? I think they used the little striped fabric more effectively than I did. I'm in a phase where I'm trying to just get sewing and not mull over everything so much so these ecclectic scrappy quilts are good for my mood right now.



We probably won't use this on a bed in our house. I see it as retro-summery and perfect for using on our shady hammock. I wish it didn't cost so much to get batting and backing fabric and have the quilting out-sourced. I really want to use this blanket right away!

Here's a peek at my next project. The pattern is "Wild Thing" from the March/April '07 issue of Quiltmaker. I'm going to make 2 quilts with this pattern, one for my daughter and one for my mom who is redecorating her bedroom nook.

Just the Staycation We Needed

We did a "staycation" for Memorial Day Weekend. We always do this because everywhere on this kickoff-to-summer weekend is crowded. We always wish we'd planned a camping trip, but the campsites we favor are booked really early. My husband was really happy that the lawnmower was broken so he could delay his only weekend chore.

Destructive tornadoes struck uncomfortably close to my cousin and his family out in rural Iowa. Thankfully they are okay, but the storm was frightening for them.

This was the weekend scene at our house:




Happy Summer!

Fabric ABC's

Time to get back to crafting and away from hometown gossip and 70's pop culture.

I saw this at Lily's blog and thought it was fun. Here's the ABC's of Me and some of the fabrics I got during our recent Mother's Day trip to Shipshewana, Indiana. Yes, we stayed at a water park hotel overlooking the Amish/Mennonite farm countryside (it was a smaller waterpark hotel at least..). We are not Amish... They make the best pies!

Accent: Midwestern and mildly Chicagoan. Chicagoans speak like Dennis Franz from NYPD Blue or those guys from the SNL "Da Bears" sketch in the 90's.

Breakfast or no breakfast: Yes! Always with coffee. My favorite is cold pizza with coffee. I love cereal, but I don't start my day off with milk or I will be quite uncomfortable very quickly.

Chore I don’t care for: Laundry and being responsible for a constant stream of meals. Never ending meals... on and on with the "What is there to eat?" all the time... I like to cook, just not constantly.

Dog or Cat: Pet Free! We had a cat who urinated inappropriately and was aggressive with the kids in her old age. Is was sad to lose her.

Essential Electronics: Hmm... clock radio? Obviously I like the computer and my computerized sewing machine.

Favorite Cologne: Yech.. no cologne please! Makes my throat close up. I like natural clean floral scents like lavender.

Gold or Silver: Thanks! I'll take either!

Handbag I carry most often: I hate carrying a handbag. I get cheap ones, or I try to use a handmade one I find online. Once I had an expensive Dooney and Burke bag. I still have it, but I don't like to carry things with chic brand names on them.

Insomnia: I love late nights and I think if I can't sleep, it's like bonus free time. I can have this attitude because I don't have a job.

Job Title: Slacker housewife. Frustrated former teacher.

Kids: Son 11, daughter almost 8.

Living Arrangements: 3 bedroom suburban home built in a newer subdivision. We have all those cheapish builder details like faux wood trim and hollow core doors.

Most Admirable Trait: I know how to make things and teach myself new skills by reading directions. I can go for a very long time without buying anything new, or spending money so I am very thrifty.

Naughtiest Childhood Behavior: I was a nice, quiet girl, but the mess in my room was epic.

Overnight hospital stays: When I gave birth both times, we stayed overnight in the hospital.

Phobias: I'm not too fearful. I have the attitude that bad things don't really happen and when they do, I think, "Aren't we lucky that wasn't worse?" (I think I get this optimistic attitude from my Dad.) I used to get panic attacks in gym class. Because I was so paralyzed in gym, in the 9th grade they put me in a special gym class with the mentally and physically handicapped kids. They took me out pretty quick, but still.. I really hate sports and I would prefer to watch your softball or volleyball game than participate.

Quote: Son, if you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now quiet! They're about to announce the lottery numbers. - Homer Simpson

Reason to smile: It's a great life!

Siblings: My brother and I are very close in age and had/have many of the same friends. We were in all the same activities together in high school and he was my roommate for a semester in college after he transferred to my university. I wish he and his family lived closer to us. He is really funny and extroverted (I'm introverted). He is hilariously competitive with me when we play card games. I never remember what trump is and I always forget that it is my turn.

Time I wake up: At 7:25am, I stagger downstairs to get my daughter's snack into her backpack. My husband does the kids' breakfast and I do the snack and school papers.

Unusual Talent or Skill: Hmm... I have no trouble assembling Ikea furniture.

Vegetable I Refuse to Eat: Squash! I like zucchini, but sweet butternut squash makes me want to gag.

Worst Habit: I keep such a low key schedule that I sometimes forget important things. I also hate making telephone calls and making arrangements for things. Thank goodness I'm already married because planning a wedding would make me crazy. At age 23 when I got married, I had no clue..

X-rays: Normal.

Yummy Stuff: My favorite pie is buttermilk pie, bratwurst, Thai food, pizza, country fried steak and potatoes, Toblerone or Lindt chocolate, Mom's chicken and dumplings, mother-in-law's roasts, apple pancake, potato pancakes with sour cream and applesauce. Anything my friends cook at our annual cabin weekend.. Now I'm hungry.

Zoo Animal I Like Most: Monkeys and giraffes

I tag any bloggers looking for inspiration!

Dynamite Magazine

Another relic form the 1970's and 80's is Dynamite magazine. I wish I still had my old issues. School aged kids would order their subscription to this magazine through the Scholastic Book Club. The book club is still active at schools, but the magazine is gone.

My favorite feature was "Bummers" which always began: "Don't you hate it when..." THIS SITE has a copy of Bummers. Click on the image on the lower left to see a readable image.

I wish I could find a great magazine like this one for my daughter. I really don't want to order a magazine for her that has regular features about style, make up, and shopping.

That's Jimmy JJ Walker from the TV show "Good Times" It was one of my favorite TV shows. My very own husband has no nostalgia for the television and media I liked from the 70's. He's crazy!

Dishcloth Swap

I stayed up really late the last 2 nights. The first night was because I couldn't tear myself away from watching Knocked Up, even though I've already seen it. Last night I stayed up sewing my Katie Jump Rope quilt. This morning my husband got both kids off to school and I slept until 10:00! Lucky Me! The down side is that I have to force myself to get back to a normal sleeping schedule because I am a night person and it is really easy for me to keep vampire hours.

I'm finished with my dishcloth swap on Craftster. My partner, ashestoashes, sent me a gorgeous set of blue and green washcloths for my kitchen. Aren't they nice?

Here's a closeup of her beautiful knitting:


I like knitting and knitting is the craft that got me hooked up to all the online crafting community in the first place. When I was teaching myself about 2.5 years ago, I went online to find some tutorials and simple patterns. I found all the forums and knitting was only the beginning of the inspiration I found online. It turns out, that I don't have the soul of a knitter, I prefer crochet and other needlework. Nothing is really quite like a knit dishcloth, however. I like crochet for the scrubbies and for potholders, but for the actual cloths, the suppleness of knitting is better.

Here's what I made for her. Her bathroom is blue, tan, and brown so I used those colors for this set of towels in the ballband pattern.

Knitting this pattern is surprisingly easy. I memorized it really quickly and now I want to make many more of them. The little scrubbies are crochet. I made a few for us to test drive to see if cotton scrubbers are actually useful or better as decoration. My daughter likes them in the bath.

Today I hope to get my quilt top done. I have to clear out the messy areas because our cleaning service is coming tomorrow. Our house is neat after they do their thing for about one evening and then the stuff migrates back out again. We really need just one more good work area in our house and some better storage.

Flowers in Shop Update

I love having an Etsy shop and It's taking much less time for me to photograph and list items than it did at first. The thing is that they recommend that you try to list things regularly, hopefully everyday to keep your shop visible in searches. I find that I can only really do it in fits and spurts and then my listing goes quiet for awhile. I just can't make crafting for the shop my full time activity.

Don't worry! I'm always ready to ship as soon as an order comes in! It's just the crafting that I can't fully maintain at a constant level.





These are the flowers pins I listed for today, even though in most of the world, it is the off season for wool items. I have several more to list tomorrow too, but I am at least going to try to spread it out over a couple of days. I used my recently dyed wool yarn to make these. I want to keep my shop more fully stocked with offerings. That will be my summer goal!

Dyed Yarn

This is my yarn stash of the hand dyed wool I use for my crochet flowers. I use a simple but messy process with Kool-aid packets, food coloring droplets, vinegar, and the microwave. Later on I use bleach to get the mess of stray color off the white counter top.


Isn't it yummy? I want to work on getting some very light pastels and lavender. Lavender is very hard to do and I haven't achieved it yet.

Pink is a little tricky. It wants to come out really bright like the one in the center. You have to add a little bit of watered down blue to get it toned down.


Brown is red and green mixed together with a little bit of blue too. I just wing it without a recipe. That large ball was too reddish, so I overdyed it yesterday and got a better shade. I haven't perfected orange, but it helps to use a little bit of blue to tone it down or it looks really like neon. That orange is my Chicago Bears orange. Red is really easy.


These make me feel happy. Green is easy. The yellow on the right is very very bright, I use a bit of pink to get a warmer color.


The turquoise is the easiest. (Would you call that cyan?) It's just the regular Kool-aid for blue or the regular blue food coloring droplets. Blue doesn't soak in as easily so it needs to cook longer. I use grape flavored Kool-Aid packets with blue and red food coloring to get the dark blue. The grape flavor is really dark, so it is trickier. I love the way the dark blue has all the rosy mottled effect.