Saturday, September 25, 2010

Keepsake Quilting

I made it.  I not only got to Keepsake Quilting, I went twice.

(It seems so unfair that Lindsey Lohan even looks good in her mug shots, and I can't even manage to get a good one out of the hundreds that I take on vacation.  I was squinting into the sun here.  Okay, okay, it's a shoddy excuse.  The good news is that should I be arrested I can save them money by sharing one of my many, many pictures that look like mug shots.)

This is the more catalog-ish view of Keepsake.
I got an okay to take some pictures inside from the person cutting my fabric.  As soon as the camera snapped, however, someone else yelled, "You can't take pictures of the quilts!"  The cutter smoothed things over explaining that I was just taking overall shots.  I was not willing, however, to stir up things by taking more than these two.  They don't do the place justice.


(I'm not talented enough to Photoshop those two quilts out, so, instead, I'm going to ask that you don't look at them.)


I thought I was only there an hour or so, but apparently it was long enough for Brian to not only visit the neighboring stores but develop close personal friendships.  When I finally left, he took me around to meet his new friends in each store.

I could not pass up the ducks.  They match my rubber duck collection after all.
These are some fabrics that just starting begging me to take them.  I am in an orange mood lately.  This has never happened before.  I'm going to be redoing the larger bedroom in yellow.  These should make a lovely quilt, etc.  I passed up the first fabric, blue with tiny orange leaves, requiring the second trip. On the second trip, I found the rubber duck borders.  That little trip alone was another $56.  

Oh, yes.  The lake and all the surrounding area was incredibly beautiful.  The lake is enormous! We've got to go in the summer next time. 
Tomorrow:  The Maker Faire!!  

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Lake Winnepesaukee (aka Keepsake Quilting) for Our Anniversary

Happy anniversary to us!  We are going to Lake Winnepesaukee FINALLY!  I've been trying to get there for more than 20 years.  It's not THAT far from Upstate New York, and it has been just a bit off the routes we've taken for a number of vacations further north.  It was often on the list of places we would stop on the way to or from other places.  Something always got in the way.  We were running late, the kids were too tired, we'll do it the next time.  My reason for wanting to go there:  Keepsake Quilting.  I so want to see that store.  Their catalogs are eye candy. 

I guess when the sole purpose of the trip is to get to this lake, we might finally make it there.  When the hubster said we were going there, I was ecstatic.  He remembered.  He knew how much I wanted to go to Keepsake and was doing this just for me.  I had days of this fantasy.  Then I mentioned where we were going to someone in front of Brian.  Turns out Keepsake was not actually on his list of reasons for going there. Too bad he said that.  He had sooo many brownie points piled up before I found out he really wanted to go to the lake.

Be that as it may, I am going to Keepsake and to what I understand is a lovely lake to celebrate our 27th anniversary.  I shall post pictures of the too many fabrics I'm going to buy.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Art Journal Classes Online

I just signed up for "21 Secrets for your Art Journal."  It will be a collection of 21 lessons, each taught by a different artist.  I've been looking at Hanna of Stockholm's work on her blog for a while now.  She is incredibly talented.  Classes are going to begin on October 1st, but you don't have to do them at a specific time.  That's just when the classes will start being available.  The cost is $59 which is a bargain when you consider it's less than $3 a lesson.

Take a look at Hanna's blog to see the inspiring things that she creates.  She has some great tutorials.  Even I, with very little artistic talent, am able to do many of the projects.  There's a link on her site to join in the classes.  Hope to see you there!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

They are Finished! 30 Sock Creatures and One More For Good Measure

Here they are.  I guess I was in a striped sock mood.



The monkey, who my lovely husband named Mango, is made from a pair of socks I got at the sock outlet store.  Some of the socks from there were good, but some "run" when you poke holes for eyes or a nose. That's not good.  The hole grows and grows.  If you are lucky, the eye and backing snap together quickly enough to stem the run.  It's a pain trying to do it though.  I couldn't get the nose for this on  quickly enough and ended up needing to use a felt nose in order to repair it.  

The snakes are from socks purchased at Joann's.  They're not really heavy, but are solidly construction and easy to work with.  I think I just need to avoid the really cheap socks.   BTW, the snakes are names Echidna and Cecrops in honor of the mythological Greek creatures that were also kind of snaky.

So that finishes the challenge!  It's late, but I did it!  Here's a group shot of all the little monsters.  What a rag-tag looking bunch!  Lessons learned:  make sure the sock material is worth all the work and make the challenges much, much smaller in the future.

Friday, September 17, 2010

I Won a Ticket to the Maker Faire!!!

I won a ticket to the Maker Faire in NYC from the Martha Stewart Craft blog!!  I missed out on the original 15 tickets, but I and five others got an email saying there were extra tickets.

My lovely husband is going with me.  It's an expensive win with the cost of Brian's ticket and transportation and food and I don't want to think about this part of it anymore.  I'm only going to think about all the incredible things I'm going to see there!  This must be good karma from posting about Martha's napkins.  OR, maybe she DOES read my blog....just kidding.  I can always dream, though.

Hopefully I will be able to take some pictures for the blog.  Wish me luck navigating the streets of Queens.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

# 28 of the 30 Sock Creatures has Arrived!

So here he is, number 28, Ezcar Goe.  What a time doing this one!  It was not supposed to look like this at all.  The first few attempts were not working for me.  His head was originally his butt.  Then, I folded down the legs and had a giant head, but no body.  Adding various appendages that were originally to be arms resulted in a rather obscene looking creature--fun, but not something I'd be able to put on the blog. 


I had an even worse time getting pictures of this guy.  It's hard to show the face well and also show definition in the rolled back piece.  In addition, The black rolled back piece didn't show well on light OR dark surfaces.  This picture shows the back a little bit better, very little.


You'll just have to take my word for it!  Escar Goe is quite lovely in person.  Or should I say in snail? 

Lessons learned:  1.  It's hard for me to get good photographs when working with black socks.  2.  I really need to get a book on photography.   Any suggestions on that?

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

My inexpensive and almost maintenance-free water fountain

I am taken with water features.  On the other hand, I don't like having to spend a lot of time on them.  I've been playing with fountains since I first bought one of the little packaged models in the 80s.  All of those were either buzzingly annoying, obnoxiously loud, and/or require perpetual fiddling with the motor filter.  Their small size also required that they be filled constantly.   My own attempts at building one from scratch have been so-so.  They were still rather care intensive.  However, I finally did it!  I've waited to post about this to be sure it was a long-term success.  I've had this one going for over a year with almost little maintenance.


The porcelain pot,  about a foot high and wide, was one that was around the house.  I can put a ton of water in this so that I only need to top this off maybe once a month.  The sound changes with the level of water.  If it gets too loud and splishy (is that a word?), I toss some more water in.  I also put in a bit of bleach on occasion to keep the bowl from developing scum.  Just a splash or what amounts to several tablespoons does the job without getting the eau de swimming pool effect.

The pump is in the 100-155 gph range (about $25) so that it works at its lowest setting.    Although that is a high range for the size of the pot, working at the lowest setting means it is less noisy and not taxing the unit.  This low setting gives the sound of water throughout the downstairs but does not show water spurting up unless you look down into it.  I've learned that spurting water also means the possibility of over-spray which will result in water spots on the surrounding area. You can hear a bit of a pump buzz when you are next to it, but sitting in the room you just hear the water.

If you get a pump that overpowers the sound of the water, return it!  Try the next size down or a different brand.  IMHO, if the pump is too loud, it is defective--it gets returned.  Another suggestion, test the water pump outside if possible to get the setting you want.  You will be amazed at how far some of them can shoot water. 

My pump is covered with large washed rocks I've collected over time.  The cord is covered (well, almost--you can see a bit on the side) by the small potted plastic plant.  Yeah, I could drill a hole in the side of the pot, but I'm not willing to risk the pot.  The plant works fine for me.   Voila!  Finally, a fountain that can survive my neglect!