I was wrong!

I was actually wrong about the mystery pattern! And I'm perfectly happy with the actual version. :)

Don't the center blocks look like sunsets or something? It's a piece my mom dyed, you can see it in this post, at the top of the very first picture. It can be surprising how much red didn't stick to the final piece. I think I'll use the rest of it for a border.

I have to say, sewing with Kona Black and P&B Dyer's Fabric has been an absolute dream. Not a single pin needed. Essential thread literally slides like butter through these top-notch fabrics. I don't have to worry about distorting the blocks when I iron either. It's good quality fabric. You'd think the way I'm swooning over it I would be advertising for it! :P

And yes, it's actually crossed my mind to get rid of my stash and have only hand dyed fabrics. Hopefully it was only a fleeting thought. ;)

Leah

Mystery coming up!

I was going to say tomorrow... but actually, it's later today, like in 4 hours, Ann's Summer 2007 mystery is going to start. Yes, I'm insane. I didn't even start to cut the fabric until 6pm tonight. :P Who sews with 4 hours (or less!) of sleep?!

Ann's given us the pre-cutting clues so far, and I love to guess what it's going to turn out to be!

Here's my best guess. But is it wrong to do this? Does it spoil the mystery? Does it hurt the author if I guess the pattern based on the clues given so far? All I'm basing it on is 3 or 4 very simple blocks and the measurements she gave. I didn't get a sneak peek or anything. On the other hand... I feel rather gleeful when I have correctly guessed the mystery pattern. :)

I'm using black for the background and scrappy bits of my hand dyed fabrics for a crib sized quilt of 36x48. I kinda hope it turns out as I guessed, it'll be a pretty quilt. :)

Speaking of hand dyed fabric... all the times I've seen dyed fabrics for sale in person, it's at least $16/yard, up to $30/yard. Yeah! Would you actually pay for that? I think my husband was seeing dollar signs for a minute when I mentioned the prices. :)

The thing is, when you add all the costs of dyeing the fabric - fabric, dyes, chip in a little for the reusable containers and water... it's still less than $4/yard. Time isn't an issue for me, I have plenty of time. That $4 is competitive with WalMart's prices!

So... if I were to sell my dyed fabrics for $12/yard (believe me, it's nice quilt-shop quality fabric), would you honestly be interested in buying it, or would you still think "I could just dye it myself." Heh, I know I wouldn't be buying it at $12 a yard. :)

At least I'm honest. ;)

Leah

Call me Dumb...

But I think I finally figured out what has been causing my rash, nearly 2 weeks later. My new bedsheets.

I bought the sheets on our anniversary trip, tossed them into the washer and put them on the bed Sunday night. Monday afternoon I'm noticing the dots. A week later Sunday I'm washing the sheets all over again, just in case. Along with all the other bedding. The rash still persists.

Last night I woke up after 2 hours of sleep and could not stop itching. Oh. So. Painful. So more than an hour later I get up and take some medicine and then I went back to bed. The pain persists. Finally wildly wondering... what if I took the sheet off? So I popped off my end of the sheets and pushed it all towards my husband (yeah, I'm a loving wife like that, I didn't want to wake him up at 5am) and in 10 minutes I was feeling soooooo much better. I doubt the medicine could have kicked in that fast.

Geesh, you'd think I would have figured it out faster! The picture is of my right side - a side I like to sleep a lot on. In fact that rash is dominantly on parts of the body that touch the sheets the most. My front and sides are badly rashed, my back not so much.

The sheet is a fitted queen size bedsheet from IKEA, brand new, 100% cotton. Washed with the laundry detergent that I've been using for the last 3 years and vinegar in the rinse cycle. I wouldn't recommend buying it. :P

Hopefully it'll abate soon! :)

Leah

Itch, itch, itch

Things have been a little itchy around here. This is one of the milder shots of my mysterious rash.

Currently it's not so bumpy on my chest anymore (red as ever though), but it's traveling to my back and hips. Looks like it'll be on my legs in the next day or so.

I'm hoping it'll be completely gone in 2 weeks. It's already a week old. No fever, no hanging in bed sleeping all the time, no funny appetite. No clue what it is. I'm actually starting to feel better - the last 2 days were like "oh man... what's invading my body?!" Now I'm feeling more cheerful and not so worried. It'll go away, and it'll itch the entire time. :P

On the bright side, all the spots make my husband look more at me, and I just pretend that he's checking ME out, instead of the rash. ;)

Leah

Nap quilt - firetruck version

This is a 36"x36" quilt top for a customer - for the repeat customer. :)

I'm just waiting for a stamp of approval before moving onto the quilting part. I really like how it's simple (2 strips sewn together, cross cut into 9.5" squares), but gives nice eye candy. :)

The other news is that I have some sort of rash all over me - no clue. It's been here for three days and it just keeps growing and it finally started to itch tonight. Aside from that, I feel perfectly fine. Not sick, not extra tired, not grumpy. Maybe I'm just allergic to myself. ;)

Leah

Post card and autumn block

Fun in the mail today! Kate had a contest a few weeks ago and I was one of the winners!

She sent this unique post card (all fabric!) all the way from England. Thank you Kate! :)

And just before our little trip, I had to put this block together because it was due while I was gone.

It's supposed to be a wreath of leaves, and oh man, I sure hope I got the placement correct! I tripled checked the instructions. It's 1 of 24 blocks that will go into a quilt that will be for a hospital auction, as I understand it.

And yes, we're back from our little trip. Ok, we were back Thursday, but somebody was a little lazy. ;) Had a great time, had the AC on full blast the entire time too. :D

We got gifts for my siblings and Dad - birthdays and father's day. Yes, I'm half way late. :P

I went to Savers (clothing thrift shop) and found a pair of jeans that actually fit AND were long enough. Whoo! The price tag was like $6... but when they rang it up, it was actually $1.07! Wow, I was stunned and just about doing flips all the way back to the car. :D Of course... can't wear them until October or November, we're sweltering here!

We went to IKEA - hubby does NOT like that place! :) But we got new sheets cuz our old ones had a hole (on my side, of course), and a new frying pan.

We also did a quick stop at JoAnn's and got ONE thing. 4 yards of black fabric for Judy's July HAD project. I want to use some hand dyed fabric for that quilt. :)

I'm also working on 2 small nap quilts for a repeat customer! Whoo! I did this quilt for her earlier this year. What I love about her is that she just tells me what kind of theme she wants and what colors the person likes. She gives me complete pattern and quilting freedom. The customer every quilter wants. ;)

Leah

Getaway!

Looks like I still can use a title. I do know there's a setting somewhere to turn it on and off. :)

Anyhow, my husband and I are going on a little trip! Just 3 hours north, but we'll spend 2 nights there, do some shopping and enjoying each other. Why? Cuz this Wednesday is our third anniversary! :)

Here's a picture of us from almost 4 years ago, it's one of my favorites.

And yes, I traded those glasses for contacts, it was so annoying when my glasses would start to slide down my nose when I was at the sewing machine. And I didn't want glasses for my wedding. :)

Take it easy everybody!

Leah

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Today is my baby sister's 21st birthday. I know she's happy about being 21, finally can buy alcohol! ;)

This is a snapshot I grabbed of her when I was visiting in May. She had just came back from getting her hair cut - a layered style. She tried to coax me into trying layers, but no thanks! :)

I have been reading "Hungry Planet: What the world eats". It's a very fascinating read, but I can only read a handful of pages at a time before my brain wants to explode. Here's a photolog teaser of the stuff that's in the book. Maybe your library will have it too. :)

Leah