Lazy Daisy Quilts (and Reads)

This episode is dedicated to Valerie Lamont. ~*~ ~*~   I decided not to do a play by play of QuiltCon, because it's old news now, isn't it? I did touch on some highlights, and I sure I will continue to do that over the next couple episodes. At the end of this episode, there is a small tribute to my friend, Valerie. It's not a quality recording, but it is from my heart. Here are the finished quilts I talked about. I did not pick the best time of day to photograph these, but there it is. Cheese Slices is a gift for the guidance counselor of our school. She is amazing and works tirelessly. These were the magenta stars from the En Provence Mystery Quilt from Bonnie Hunter. I added the scrappy star sashing, and I like the effect. I may use this sashing idea again. It's easy to do with a little organisation. It's sashing with cornerstones, basically. Each long sashing strip gets some wonky points, sometimes on both ends. I used my design wall to lay all this out. This is the purple and green portions of En Provence. It came out pretty great. This will be for an amazing teacher who has taught both of my kids. I have one more to make and then no more teacher quilts until I have grandchildren. Times, they are a changing. I also finished my Round Robin, finally! Well, except for the label, which I will be sewing to the back the next time there is anything worth watching on tv. AND.... here's my glorious book haul! I only found one Anita Brookner title this year. Last year I had three or four. I'm also especially excited about Judy Blume, Joyce Carol Oates, and Anne Lamott. This stack should keep me occupied at least until next year's book sale.   The book I reviewed this episode is- My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh I wish I could give this book ten stars. I loved it so much. There are some uncomfortable passages that deal with sexual assault, and some with icky teen lust, but the overall story is one of love and compassion and family. I can't express how much I loved this book. It's set in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the passages about the misconceptions about the place resonated with me. We don't ride gators or paddle to a school in a pirogue. And not all Louisiana cities are like New Orleans. It's a rich story that left me feeling great at the end.  

In this episode, I talked about how I split my En Provence units into two separate quilts! I think I will call the purple one, Lavender Fields Forever.   I finished a crocheted wrap.   I spent some time organizing my embroidery threads, and started a couple small X-stitch projects.  (subversive with naughty words)   Checkout episode 65 of Dear Book Nerd, where they answered my question. (I'm Classically Challenged) If you haven't listened before, you are in for a treat. The podcast has ended now, but there are about 70 back episodes to devour. You should watch Love Between the Covers on Netflix. It's fantastic. And I read a bunch of books! Follow me on goodreads (verylazydaisy) to see my lists. Twilt On  

Hi guys! This episode is short, and I talk pretty fast. I tried to squeeze it into the small window when my house was empty today. As mentioned in a previous post, I am right on track with the En Provence Mystery Quilt from Bonnie Hunter. I'm still working on my Lady of the Lake quilt, and I finally but the borders on my Doctor Who Embroidered Quilt. More pics of that one to come as I quilt and finish it. Here is a sneak peek. This picture makes me realise how awful the lighting is in my sewing room. Bah! I hope to take some pics of it outside this week. It's too big to get the whole thing in a shot, as it is on my design wall. Let's Get Twilty!

I'm right on track with Clue 3 of En Provence, and I'm linking up. I am so enjoying seeing all the posts on Instagram from those of you participating. Here's where I am. Spinning those seams, again. I didn't have a wide variety of light purples, but I think it will work out just fine.   I made a quilt for my friend Amy, in our Fat Quarter Xmas Swap. THIS QUILT was the inspiration, and here is my interpretation. Rainbow Wedge   The quilt I received in this swap makes me very very happy! The close up of the quilting highlights the hummingbirds stitched in bright pink thread!     Let's Get Twilty!    

Is that title confusing you? I am a huge fan of The Golden Girls. I am often quoting the show, and sometimes people don't even know it and they just think I made a clever joke, all on my own. No. I am not funny. I steal all my material, lol. There was an episode where Blanche describes a sad mood as "feeling magenta" because it's a horrible colour and goes with nothing. This always made me laugh, even though I don't particularly dislike the colour magenta. I am also, not feeling particularly sad at this moment, because I just finished talking to you, and you always cheer me up. I am working hard to stay positive and not let in the holiday blues.. or the holiday magentas.. Speaking of magenta, I talked a lot about Clue 2 of the En Provence mystery hosted by Bonnie Hunter. I am so enjoying the process! I hope I love the finished quilt as much. If not, someone is going to get a gift with way more work put into it than I normally do for a gift.. haha! I have decided to suspend the Outlander quilt along until after the holidays. I will have the last few remaining blocks ready before the spring, and we will pick up and finish then. We all just have so much going on this season, I didn't think you guys would mind a wee break. I know several of you will appreciate the time to catch up anyway. Thanks for playing along! Thank you for all the lovely comments, friends! Twilt On!  

In this episode, I talk about starting a new quilt, the Bonnie Hunter Winter Mystery called En Provence. It grew on me and I am enjoying the first clue, which can be found on Bonnie's blog at Quiltville.com. This project has me looking forward to each Friday again after a long dry spell of no inspiration and not feeling like sewing at all. It has jump started me into thinking about another new project, which I have already started, and will talk about next week. I started a  new shawl that isn't as fuzzy as the moonlight shawl, though I still plan to finish both. The book I recommended this week is: The Apartment by S.L. Grey (which is a collaboration between Sarah Lotz and Louis Greenberg      

Moonlight Shawl   Elly   My Handy Man  

I talked a lot of quilting in this episode, and I finally got borders added to an old UFO. The second picture shows the fabrics better. Crossing my fingers I can get this quilted soon! I am doing a chapter by chapter discussion of the book I am enjoying. Birds in the Air by Frances O'Roark Dowell. Pick up your copy today and follow along. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Twilt On!

In this episode, I gave brief updates on several things. Senior year field trips, and Renaissance Faire costumes. The end of one of my favourite podcasts, Books on the Nightstand. The end of Quilter's Newsletter, and the unexpected connection to one of my other favourite things. I talked a lot, about nothing at all, but that's kinda what you came for, right? This is the black cactus quilt I mentioned as my husband's favourite. Twilt On!

Take Two! I lost the first file of this episode, so here goes the second take. I talked about what's happening at work, and what I will be doing when the shop closes at the end of this month. I spent some time sharing my thoughts on what's going on with the quilting industry, and how things are changing. While I still believe in supporting small businesses where we can, we have to accept that even with doing that, some shops will close. Probably a lot of them will close. The quilting industry has become bloated and consumers can no longer support it in the same way. The industry is changing. I think it's like an over inflated  balloon, and the shops are the air inside. The balloon has popped, and as it contracts, some of the air inside will manage to be in protected spots, and remain there. Most of it will go away. Some shops have multiple contributing factors like location and buying power, that will keep them afloat during the period of reduction. I hope some lovely quaint shops are still standing when this is all over. I hate to imagine a world where the only place I can actually see and feel the fabric I am buying is a big box store. DISCLAIMER- PLEASE NOTE, I do not claim to be an expert on ANYTHING, whether it be quilting or economics. All my opinions are simply that, opinions, which are based on my observations of the world around me. I sometimes make generalizations in my podcast when I talk about groups of people, sometimes based on age and stage of life. I never mean to exclude or offend any groups. I can only comment on what I've seen, and experienced. Please don't take it personally if you don't fit into those sweeping generalizations that I sometimes make.  I KNOW THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS, AND SOMETIMES I AM JUST COMPLETELY OFF. Twilt On

In this episode I answered the rest of your Ask Me Anything questions. I talked a lot about longarm quilting, and costume making. I had a great time looking through my pictures from those days to find a few to share with you. I wish I could share them all, but here is a small sampling. (I just spent an entire day fondly looking back) I recommend the book Daisies For Innocence, the first in a new Enchanted Garden Mystery. So many titles in the Cozy Crime Genre are just too twee.. but this book really captured my heart. My hubby bought it for me on my birthday, which happened to fall on our weekly bookshop visit. The first quilt I ever made was for my son, Ian, to honour his admiration for Superman.   There were sassy wenches aplenty...   And many ladies too...   Pirates sometimes made their way in...   And a few of them said "I Do"...   Twilt On my friends!

In this episode, I've answered the first chunk of Ask Me Anything questions. Thanks to all of you who submitted questions. I will have the rest up in a few days. Here's some of my son's artwork. I am "super" proud of his talent. Twilt On!

In this episode: 5 ways to love to your longarmer 1. Prevent wavy borders, by measuring and properly attaching them. There are a couple ways to do this. One is to measure through the center of your quilt top, cut your borders to that length, and pin and ease as you sew them on. Run them through the machine with the border fabric up and the quilt top against the feed dogs. Another is to fold your quilt top in half and lay it on a long table with the folded edge (center) toward you. Lay your border strips on top of it, and mark them for length. Move your top out of the way and cut where you've marked. No measuring! and it's still accurate. Then pin and ease as necessary. 2. Stay Stitch around the entire edge of your quilt, in the seam allowance. It will prevent stretching, and be hidden inside the binding when you're done. 3. Press your top, paying special attention to making sure your seam allowances are pressed consistently where possible. (especially if you are requesting ditch quilting) 4. Clip any stray threads that have been caught in your seam allowances on the front side. 5. Make sure your backing is big enough. Ask your longarmer how much extra they prefer. Press your backing too! *Bonus points if you trim your batting to size. It should be as big as the backing. Sometimes my customers bring in a king batting for a twin quilt because that's what they had. I have to trim away the excess so it fits neatly and the clamps are easily accessible, and where they need to be. Ideally, you want your batting to breathe a bit before it's loaded, so I like when they take it out, and trim it down before bringing it to me. I have a favourite customer who does this, and also stay stitches her quilt tops. She is a joy to quilt for! **As always, ask your particular longarmer for their preferences. Communication is key for a positive experience. You want your longarmer to he happy while working on your quilt! p.s. PLEASE remove any pins before dropping off your quilt. I HAVE SCARS.   Some thoughts on Modern Quilting I adore the aesthetic of modern quilts. The clean lines and negative space make my heart sing. What I hope to see in the future of modern quilting is a continuing focus on the do it yourself attitude, while gently embracing the idea of always learning, always improving. I don't want to see a complete lack of quality workmanship for the sake of just making something pretty. I think it's important to embrace both ideas, and merge them into one. A quilting world where no one is too intimidated to try, but is always wanting to learn more, and get better at their craft. What I've been working on My Doctor Who quilt. You can find the block patterns and layouts on Fandom in Stitches Silent Film   Outlander stitch along blocks. Listen to the episode to hear more details about these projects.   Two books I've read Drood by Dan Simmons The Surrogate by Tania Carver   Happy Stitching!  

Hey everyone! I apologise in advance for the inconsistent sound quality in this episode. I'm not feeling well and apparently I kept holding the mic in different positions and it changes a couple times throughout the episode. Today I talked about making some organisational changes in my sewing life, reading life, and mental life. Thus the title.. It also happens to be the title of a book I am destroying in my art journaling. Here's the paper pieced block I made yesterday. It's the first in the Sewhooked 2016 My Favourite Things block of the month. Now.. Go do whatever you want to do.

Happy Halloween, my Pretties! It's my favorite time of year. In celebration, I bring you an original short story, read by me, and written by Stephen Mier. Yeah ok, he's my little brother, and we sorta collaborated... and by "collaborated" I mean that I asked him to write me a very short story about a cursed or haunted sewing machine. MWAAAAHAAhAAAAA! This is what he came up with. It's the last 7 minutes or so of the podcast. The first bit has two book reviews, and then I talk about what I'm sewing, briefly. Relax, it's just PG-13 or so :-) The Cursed Quilt I wiped my sweat as I leaned over the sewing machine, frantically stitching in a vain attempt to finish the quilt before Halloween. I had one day left to complete the quilt I had promised to raffle at the party the following evening. It was by far the largest and most intricate I had ever undertaken, borne of thick and luxurious fabric for the cold of the coming winter. It was becoming clearer by the moment that I had bitten off far more than I could chew. Hour after hour I worked at a nearly inhuman pace, and just when it looked as though I might finish, as I set my eyes upon the last few stitches needed to complete my creation, the thread in my machine ran dry. My last spool. I had special ordered the thread weeks ago, as no local shop had stocked the one perfect color I needed, a color which no other could approximate, and which no other could so perfectly complement the shade of the fabric. I stood, clutching the sides of my head in my tired hands, expletives erupting from my heathen mouth. In a fatigue and frustration induced stupefaction, I bundled the quilt angrily, though I loved it so, and threw it into the backseat of my car. I set out for the one quilt shop in town with which I was less than familiar, hoping against hope that it might have my thread. It was very old, and an unnerving mood hung all about the place. There were stories, warnings really, that the owner was not quite right, and that a couple of noteworthy local quilters had walked into the shop and never walked out. Silly stories, I always told myself, though I never did tempt fate by going there. Have you ever felt such a chill that it snapped you from near-sleep to full alertness so suddenly that you felt as though waking from a dream? That is what I felt as I stepped into that grim place. The air was dusty and stale as I walked to the counter where an old woman stood, staring through me. "Do you have Aurifil in teal feather?" I asked, nearly tripping over my words for the anxiety belaboring my every word and every thought. "Teal feather?" She croaked with a crooked smile. "Yes... You have distinguished preferences, I see?" She smiled. It was scarcely a question rather than a statement. "I guess so," I nodded. "Look, I just need to get my thread and get home so that I can finish this quilt," I didn't have time for idle conversation. "I don't get many visitors anymore..." She lamented. "Let me show you something," she said, wholly ignoring my previous request. She opened a drawer beneath the counter filled with unusual threads, most of which I had never seen, and plucked a spool of Aurifil, teal feather. "Come with me," she said as she walked towards the back room. I pursed my lips and stepped around the counter to follow her, still clutching my quilt. We stepped into a room which could have immediately curdled the blood of the devil himself. Blood red carpets streaked with black in indescribable, arcane patterns stretched across the floor. The walls were entirely black, and seemed to have been sloppily painted over and over with little regard for technique, with uneven runs and bubbles riddling every inch of the paint as though mess after mess had been hastily covered up. In the middle of the room stood an ordinary chair, and an ordinary but old machine on a dusty table. "Please, finish your quilt here," she said. "My old fingers can't sew anymore,