Off To Texas

Just letting you folks know that I'm leaving today and won't return until November 3. I'm taking a couple of cross-stitch projects and a crocheting one! Yeah, well, I'm sure I'll have quilting ones after the Quilt Show.

Happy 75th Dad!

My Dad is 75 years old today! Given the amazing bad luck of medical problems that occurred 10 years ago, it's quite a celebration. He took early retirement years ago (been retired 20 years now) and still works on large household projects (the current one is installing a new whole-house air conditioner).


We had our family party last night. My Dad was a member of the original Mickey Mouse club in the 40s (it actually started in the 30s) and always enjoyed the character. My sister, Mary, made him his very first Mickey Mouse cake. Note the tiny Mickey heads going around the top. I normally climb on a chair and take a photo looking down, but my knee made that too difficult this time around.


On the craft front, I donated an entire box of scrap yarn to the elementary school that my Aunt works at in St. Paul. This school has a large poor and immigrant population whereas most of the schools in my area are well to do. Last year, I found them a whole bunch of yarn at garage sales (they've used it up in craft projects). So, I'm happy this stuff will be well used. As soon as I finish the current scrap projects, all the rest will go there as well (yeppers..I have a whole second box filled!). I leave for my trip on Wednesday, so am deciding what project(s) to take with me on my trip. Given that scissors and threading needles are an issue on the plane, I might take one thing for the plane and one thing for 'down' time.

I Miss My Mac and other silly stories

While organizing some of my photos on the computer, I came across a picture of my old Mac. I miss him. This is a photo of him moments before he was packed into the car to be taken away to be recycled in June 2004 (teary eyed moment). I bought him in 1987 at a cost of $1,500. I still haven't sold the printer (the 24 pin dot matrix one still has a market). My replacement Mac is older than dirt as well (bought in 1994), however, it still works for everything I need it for except for the Internet.

Anyway, along with that, I also found an opportunity to take a photo of another afghan that was finished in the past. This was my first Mile A Minute Afghan and made for my Mom. The light blue was Orlon, while the dark blue was a newer acrylic from Caron. I did this entire thing during lunch hours at work in 1992. This is a satisfying pattern-it looks pretty and finishes fairly quickly. A variagated gives an entirely different look. Change to woodsy colors and it's a guy afghan. With the no-dye-lot yarns, you have to be much more selective of yarn choices or the result isn't very soft. The specific pattern used for this one is a booklet (still sold at Joann's and Michaels) called Learn To Crochet The Mile-A-Minute Annie Way (there's a photo of the booklet in my July 15, 2005 blog entry). Lots of other Mile-a-Minute patterns are available, but the one I received from a gal in England is my very next one.

So Many Squares

Finally, I have cut and sewn enough HSTs to finish my Depression Quilt (http://www.quilterscache.com/D_F/DepressionBlock.html). I now have enough for 59 blocks. Originally, I was going to have a pieced border surrounded by 2 narrow borders. I may skip the border entirely as the blocks themselves will result in a full/queen sized quilt (84x96 inches), which is as large as I make them. Decisions, decisions. Blocks will be made when I return from vacation, so I've time to think about it. By then, I will also have decided if I want to quilt it or tie it. Here they are in a box that is now too small taken with my new digital camera (Kodak Z700). I haven't quite the hang of the software yet. Trying to sharpen the image results in these little white crackles along the fabric edges.

I'm getting the hang of using my bifocals, although they still don't help with needle threading much, darn it! I have nearly finished the individual rows for my apple core charm quilt. (charm quilt- no two fabric pieces are alike). This is a lap quilt that I started in 1996 and is hand sewn. Unfortunately, I seem to have permanently lost 2 rows of this quilt, so need to figure out what to do about that. When I get all the rows laid out, I can then determine what fabrics I need to supplement with. I have hundreds of charm squares to fill in, so it is not a problem.

I chose the Kodak Z700 because it was recommended by several cross stitchers. Most automatic cameras don't do closeups very well and scanning has resulted in some very weird colors. Here's my finished Peanuts project. Shows every thread! Now I just have to get this thing framed!