Thursday, November 3, 2011

Really Random 11/3/11

I'm not back to my regularly scheduled programming quite yet. For various reasons, some of my old software needs to work better with the new computer. But not to worry. I've hired Tim Gunn a great tech to just make it work!

One of my best friend's daughter is Jessica Jones from How About Orange. Jessica designs some of my favorite fabric. This is Calliope from one of her earlier lines, Amusement Park.

 (Purse made by Jessica's mother using the Buttercup Bag pattern)

Last Sunday, Mark was doing some measurements at a new housing tract sales office and I was wandering through some of the model homes when I saw this bedroom. This interior designer clearly knew what she was doing!
Here's a DIY idea if you have a lot of pencils lying around.
One of the women in our church just turned 50. She came out of the church service to find her car parked in the handicapped stall, filled with balloons and covered with stickers.

I have been doing a lot of paper piecing, and I use the method where you have to fold the stitching line over a post card so you can trim your fabric. My friend, Terri, makes amazing pouches (and lots of other cool things), and she sent me this postcard with my last order. This is the postcard I'm using while I paper piece. I think of her with every fold of the paper. It's almost like she is there sewing with me. Almost. Really having her in my sewing room would be so much better!

One night Mark was googling my name to see if anything would pop up related to my name and Live a Colorful Life.He found something totally unexpected--a winery with our name!

This is not a design-it-yourself wine label. It is a real winery in southern California!

Two things I have learned recently while paper piecing and then making a corresponding ticker tape quilt block. When I first started the ticker tape blocks, I would trim my ticker tapes with a rotary cutter and then cut them again with a pinking shears. It seemed like a lot of extra work and they weren't always as straight as I wanted. (Not that I'm planning on redoing it, that's for sure.)
 So I switched to a rotary cutter with a pinking blade on it. My ticker tapes are more even, it takes less time and it's a lot easier on my hands. Highly recommended.
The other thing I learned when doing the ruby block: for all the little pieces used in the crazy quilt portion of the block, variety is important. I got too matchy-matchy in terms of trying to really match the Kona ruby. Consequently, all the little pieces moosh together.
I changed my strategy with the purple block and used more variation in value, also trying not to match the Kona solid too closely or worry about the fabric placement. I like it much better. Good thing I learned that lesson on block number 4 so I can put it to good use on the remaining 12 blocks.

My advice for the week: Throw caution to the wind and be a little more random.

Apply that advice in whatever way you see fit.

11 comments:

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Sara said... #

Love that Terri;) She DOES fabulous notebooks and pouches!

A winery in your name you can't get any more special than that friend!!

A rotary cutter with a pinking blade---what will THEY think of next!

I love your random posts!!! Mine come out that way too lately.

Grandma G said... #

Wow! Lotsa cool random things today! Of course I'm most impressed with that bedroom... Jess will be thrilled to see her fabric used like that!

Jill Chapman said... #

I'm making my first scrappy quilt and I'm really struggling to be random. It scares me for some reason.

I can't wait to see more of your paper pieced blocks.

felicity said... #

I finally bought a pinking blade for my rotary cutter - gotta break that sucker out at some point. Love the purple block!

Mrs Flying Blind... said... #

Ooh a pinking blade - I'd like one of those!

Katy Cameron said... #

I love those blocks. I'd been debating whether I *needed* a pinking blade - obviously now I do ;o)

FlourishingPalms said... #

Your random posts are so random. How fun to read and see such-'n-such.

You know, we have a winery named after us too! Hungerford Hill. However, lucky for us, "ours" is in Australia! Of course we visited there, and of course, we did a considerable amount of name-dropping. Who cares now that the original Hungerford was a convict deportee from England?!

CitricSugar said... #

I love that bedroom! What a clever use of the fabric pattern... I will try to be more random this week. :-)

Letterpress said... #

I love How About Orange--read it all the time. Fun to see that you're "related." Also loved the stickerized birthday car--very funny.

Good luck with computer stuff. I feel about my computer like I feel about my cars: I just want them to work!

E.

Archie The Wonder Dog said... #

Another great post!

Mama Pea said... #

Lots of good stuff in this post! Thanks for all the eye candy!