Getting stuff done...

Boxer Rebellion took a leap forward this weekend...I finished the applique and assembled the blocks.  I need to sneak by my husband's work place and measure the area where this will hang before I decide how to border it.  I need to keep it small (all blocks finish 7.5 inches).  I will sprinkle a few more tiny appliqued hearts around the other two applique blocks, enough to balance the sarcasm and snarkiness in this quilt...I wonder how many dozen THAT will take, LOL?!

Here are close ups of the applique blocks...this one you've seen.

I thought I needed an actual pair of boxer shorts represented...I will add a tiny button on the flap after I've quilted it...

I put an up-side-down block in the mix because I just love to see those on cat and doggie quilts...it feeds my goofy side (and Steve IS my favorite critter, after all)...

And I guess the musical reference to the song about a dog being gone was inevitable...

Someone emailed me and asked me how I was going to finish his face on these appliques.  I had to admit that I considered myself finished.  I am HORRIBLE with faces, which is why I left the bride's face blank in my Civil War Bride quilt, along with the self-portrait block of our family.  Since I had already done Steve that way for that quilt, I thought I would continue that idea for this one.  I would love to find a book or resource about making easy, real looking faces.  I didn't want to put a face on my bride because I thought it would make her look cartoon-ish, with my very limited art skills.

I totally avoided the face situation with my daughter by putting a book in front of her face, which is true to life anyway.

My sad little design wall is, unfortunately, at the bottom of the stairs in the quilt cave.  As usual, I take great care pinning a project to the wall, and then over the course of time, THIS happens.  Maybe it is a subtle message telling me to get on with it!

I have both a teenager and a cat who like to zoom down the stairs and the resulting velocity is just too much for design lay-outs.  Pretty funny when compared to taking each step s-l-o-w-l-y and carefully like I do, thinking about the consequences of reckless abandon with every step.  Ah, stupid youth.

I took some time to sew the blocks together this weekend...HA!  Let's see those two upset my apple cart NOW.  My next step is to decide on a skinny stop border and something for the outer border.  Any suggestions??  I never know what to do with scrappy things to pull all that lovely randomness to a logical conclusion.

I also glanced in my magic box and it was almost empty!  Time to prep the next few basket blocks for casual hand applique.  I manage to get at least one a day done, waiting for my car full of teenagers to materialize after school in the afternoon.  I've got some awaiting me...all ready to cut out with the freezer paper ironed to the right side of the fabric. 

This is the 4th use of these 20 freezer paper patterns...I peel them off carefully each time to re-use them, and I'm trying to see how many times I can use them before having to make another set. Waste not, want not...(really I'm just SUPER lazy!). 

I hope you found a few moments for quality sewing time this weekend.  I'm still having to make the most of small chunks of time...I would LOVE a big block of time with no cooking, no housework, no job, no mothering, no wifing, and no dental appointments for bite adjustments (hey - I've had 3 days of no pain meds!!  THAT'S progress!).  I am continuously motivated by Victoria's idea of 15 minutes of play...you really CAN get something done in 15 minute chunks. 

Small blocks of time are great for working on projects that are already planned and fairly well organized, but I need more uninterrupted time when planning a project I want to start.  Maybe the lack of that is a sign I need to FINISH the things I have started.  Hmmm...

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Yee haw! Pants on fire...

Oh boy, this is getting "funner and funner" - that ain't good grammar, I know, but this project seems to have a wild, crazy, pantless mind of its own!

Boxer Rebellion is beginning to come together!!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

THIS looks like fun...

Jackie, over at Canton Village Quilt Works, has organized a FREE Blogger's BOM to start this month.  Did I mention it was FREE?!?  She has invited some fabulously talented quilters to design blocks along with her.  Go here to get all the details, check out the list of block designers, and sign up.  It sounds like the blocks will be ALL PIECED and measure 8.5 inches.

How wonderfully generous!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Filling out the boxer shorts...

Despite my 2-week toothache (and resulting 2-week drain on creativity...), I managed to get a little more done on "Boxer Rebellion."  I finally finished the 8 pieced blocks made from Steve's old undies (hee-hee-hee) after picking some patterns with funny names...Handy Andy, Grandmother's Favorite, Contrary Wife, Darting Birds, and a few more "appropriately" named blocks for this project.  Thank you for all your block suggestions...that was a source of much mirth while I was moaning and groaning about my tooth pain.  This isn't a very good photo, but I think it will give you the general idea.  Each block will finish at 7.5 inches.

I have hand appliqued the bodies to the backgrounds...now comes the fun part...embellishing with embroidery outlines and details like glasses, nipples (oh yes...tiny little French knots...), words/phrases, and the little alfalfa sprouts of hairs on the top of his noggins.  Yes...I AM enjoying this...

The missing block will be one more applique block...I thought I needed to applique a pair of boxers, complete with the "escape flap" and a little button.  Sort of an homage to the source of inspiration for this project.

The blocks were a little boring and flat, so I started adding a little bright orange to some of them (there are some orange/red accents in some of the shorts).  I will probably also add an ultra skinny orange stop border and finish with a small outer border pieced from more boxer fabric...most likely very scrappy.  Then I think all the boxer leftovers will go into the backing.

Being under the influence of "happy drugs" for tooth pain and listening to radio news stories about the upcoming federal trial of the "underwear" bomber are not a good combination.  Now I'm toying with making some very small free pieced letters that would spell:

"the butt stops here" 

It's a good thing I have to worry about the final size of this thing getting too big...but I could always incorporate that phrase in the backing (although it would be deliciously scandalous to add it to the front outer border...).  Maybe if the letters were very, very tiny...

The tooth odyssey:  Two weeks ago I had a replacement crown made because the bite was severely out of whack.  The new crown is much improved, but they think the resulting pain is due to trying to get the bite right...all the teeth playing nicely.  If a tooth is "high," it can aggravate another tooth into displaying symptoms of needing unnecessary root canals and such.  Now it's grind a little...wait a little...grind some more, wait some more...  I guess now that I am 50 and a slow healer anyway, I was destined to lots of discomfort and happy drugs while all teeth calm down and learn to play nice.

What's a girl with a toothache to do?  Can't eat comfort foods and continue to lose weight...hey look!  The new Hancock's catalog came in the mail...

Go to the computer, point and click, and pieces of Judy Rothermel's Cocheco III just appear at the door a few days later.  It's better to support my local quilt shops, and I do, but this was an emergency!

Even through the glare, they look good!  That catalog is a killer.  There are other Judy Rothermel lines (Pine Tree) and also new stuff from Paula Barnes (also for Marcus), shown here on the adjacent page.  There are some really nice navy and black prints in that Tavern Blues line.

Then, there's http://www.reproductionfabrics.com/.  Luscious shirtings and Ascot novelties...oh my...

I feel better already!

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

Bowling pin kitty...

I've had a toothache since Thursday night...TOTAL bummer since my dentist normally is closed on Friday and it was a holiday weekend due to Labor Day.  Needless to say, I did not feel like sewing all weekend (or smiling, cooking, talking, etc.).  Thank goodness for Ibuprofen and something slightly stronger that Steve did not need following his last dental procedure. 

I did manage to turn in this 15 inch block on Friday morning.  Ola, Mary J. and I designed this for our LQS - it will be the shop's block for the upcoming "holiday hop" (they had to have a block for Halloween).  Drawing the cat was easy...just start with a bowling pin and add ears, whiskers, and a tail, hee-hee-hee.  If customers want to "cute it up," they can add a face.  We decided to leave it neutral, in case people don't celebrate Halloween.  Halloween is HUGE around this house.  It is my daughter and husband's favorite holiday.

I have a dental appointment this morning...then maybe I will feel like mucking around with the boxer shorts.  I have to admit that a lot of weird, twisted ideas were floating through my thick head after taking Steve's happy pills for the toothache pain...I was having visions of boxers...

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Heart Attack-on-a Stick...

Yum (not!)...that's deep fried butter-on-a-stick.  In my last post, I mentioned having entered quilts in a local community fair and mentioned this new midway delicacy.



This was introduced, I think, at the Iowa State Fair, or at least it was highly publicized at THIS year's Iowa State Fair and the circus of the surrounding Presidential Republican Party Straw Poll.

Some of my blogger friends from "down under" and other points across the globe commented or sent emails asking about this intriguing "food" item.  Well, this post is for YOU!  I hope you have a strong stomach.  I feel my arteries hardening just posting the pictures!

Americans will deep fry ANYTHING!  Maybe that is why this country is so fat.  Here is a link to how to make deep fried butter-on-a-stick - you HAVE to see it to believe it:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/11/fried-butter-stick-iowa-state-fair_n_924768.html

But this isn't the first deep fried popular item offered at fairs and carnivals all over this country.  There are many new, weird items that have hit the midway in recent years.  Here is a deep fried Twinkie.  The original snack cake has been around for years - literally!  They would have been a good item for cold war bomb  shelters due to their long shelf life.  As if they couldn't get more unhealthy:

Then there are deep fried Oreo cookies:



Deep fried pecan pie:





Deep fried avocados:

This is the "Zucchini Weenie":

Deep fried deviled eggs:

Chocolate-covered, deep fried bacon:

Funnel cakes being fried:

Deep Fried White Castle Cheeseburgers:

Deep fried beer pockets:



Deep fried strawberries:

Deep fried candy bars:


Ugh...now I think I'm going to be sick...at this point you are either repulsed or heading out to find a state fair.

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

That will put starch in your shorts...

I have learned WAY more about the anatomy of a pair of boxer shorts than I initially thought necessary while working on this little project called "Boxer Rebellion."  (If you are just joining me here, click back 2-3 posts to get the skinny on this one.)  When you cut away the elastic waistband and the ridiculous little trap door in the front, you get three main pieces of fabric.  The piece pictured above is the rear panel (literally), then there are two larger pieces that make up the sides and fronts.  I had no idea they were so complicated, even though I have folded them hundreds of times after doing the laundry! 

Due to age, and a little blended polyester, the fabric is really thin.  Frankly, I don't know what was holding some of these together!  Next time I plan a sassy little project, I should check out the quality of the ingredients first!  I am having to use spray starch to stiffen these up a little in order to piece the blocks that will accompany the three applique squares.

Then I needed to audition some "neutral" pieces of light blue from my stash...most of the boxers are really dark.  I am also going to throw in some bright orange just to shake things up a bit.

Here are the first two pieced blocks for the project, "Contrary Wife" and "The Dandy."

After the starching, the plaids are even wonkier than they were before...I guess that will just add to the charm.

The quilt will consist of 3 applique blocks and 9 pieced blocks, all finishing to 7.5 inches square.  I'm thinking the pieced blocks will be sampler style, with no two block patterns being the same.

I popped in at the Saline Community Fair this week at the Washtenaw County Fairgrounds.  I entered a couple of quilts for exhibition.  Michigan no longer has a state fair, due to budget concerns, but this community fair continues.  I love walking around the exhibition building and seeing all the lovely things that people have entered...quilts, sewing, knitting/crocheting, flowers, food, photographs, antiques, collections, animals.  It's a great slice of America that is slowly dying, I'm afraid.   

"All Around the Town" continues its winning streak taking Best of Show.

"Wickedly Liberated" earned a second place ribbon...with the limited hanging space, it wasn't the best quilt to enter.  It was probably hard for spectators to get my full meaning with half of the words folded away, out of sight.  It is a big quilt!

I had to visit the baby animal barn.  Just look at this sweet little baby horsie.

And this handsome character is either Chip...or Dale.  They weren't talking...

These two porkers were awaiting the judging.  They prove that there is someone for everyone.

T

hey were all scrubbed and looked ready for Sunday School.

The judging for the flowers took place a day or two ago, but many blooms were still beautiful.

I'm sure this sunflower looked better for the judges...I took a picture of it because that's how I feel sometimes, LOL.

I picked a good time to go...the booths making deep fried butter-on-a-stick and funnel cakes were not cooking yet.

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

That's one pasty midwesterner...it just looks like three...

Boxer Rebellion took a giant step forward tonight...and Mr. Fabric Therapy is still speaking to me (bonus!).  Ola helped me with my skin tone dilemma earlier in the day.  Yep...that's his color, alright...(how does she know so much about my husband's skin tone?!?  Hmmm...).

He went from the drawing board to the freezer paper/glue stick prep stage tonight.  His head is about the size of a Barbie doll head...minus the hair (as if depicting him without his boxers wasn't humiliating enough...).

"It's ALIVE!!!"  Now I know what the creators of "South Park" must feel like, playing around with their little construction paper cut-outs of the TV show characters (he does sort of resemble Mr. Garrison...uh-oh, Mr. F. T.'s not going to appreciate THAT one...).  I need to settle on background fabric, hand applique and do the embroidery embellishments.

Oh, let the economy slide into oblivion...fun things are happening in the quilt cave...but for now, must - go - to - BED, zzzz.

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)