Done with Harry Potter

I finished the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in about 30 hours. But that'd explain why I disappeared a bit. ;) Good book, a part of me wishes there was a little more romance.

Now for a rash update. Peni suggested that I might have Pityriasis Rosea. Huh? Yeah, a google search turned up some interesting results. But really mattered to me was that I was strongly matching it's given symptoms.

I like to call it The Pity Rash. ;) Picture of my tummy is pretty much at one of it's worse and most itchy points. Thankfully it's a thousand times better and I no longer wake up in the middle of the night scrubbing my skin to death.

Basically this rash is random. It's thought to be a relapse of HHV-7 (Human Herpes Virus 7, common in kids), but there's no proof. Anyhow, it's a little tricky to diagnose at first, but the fact that it takes 2-4 weeks for the rash to develop is one of the clues that it's pityriasis rosea. Then it hangs around from 6-14 weeks. Yeah! I didn't want to hear that. :P

It's not contagious at all. It tends to target younger adults. Only about 3% of the people who get PR relapse and get it again and again and again and again... ouch. It's miserable enough for one time! Heat and active movement can cause the rash to itch more. Why, oh why did I have to get this in the summer when I happen to live in the desert?! :)

There are shots and medicines available to help with the itching, but there's nothing to do about the rash itself, you need to wait it out. Thankfully I seem to be almost done with the spreading of the rash. A few fresh spots on my thighs, but that's pretty much it. The rest of my skin looks splotchy, and only itches when I'm super hot. And even if it's not itching, scratching my skin feels real good. :) And yes, I've scratched so much that my skin has been peeling like a sunburn... except very few people sunburn in the areas I'm peeling in! :P

Hopefully by my birthday in November everything will be cleared up and gone!

**********

In other news, I got mail goodies from Dannielle's drawing.

There's a quilting book (with some extras like how to make several bags, etc), a Christian Woman's book, colorful crochet dishcloth, purple dangling earrings (sure pretty!), hand made card, her little "business" Bunny card (great bookmarker too) and a little circle of soap. At first I thought the soap was a candle, but nope. It smells fantastic too. :) Thank you Dannielle!!

There was a quilt guild meeting last Wednesday and the speaker was Amy Bright. She really likes using circles in her quilts.

She also enjoys leather work and makes her own thimbles. A piece of colorful leather with a bit of white bandage to prevent the needle from going into your skin. Very comfortable and soft. When you wear out one side, just flip it over and use the other. :)

Last of all, I'm working on the mystery for Cathy~O. It's all sewn into a top now, just need to put on the borders and it'll be officially tested. :)

What I love is how beautifully the seams have been behaving. They nestle and match wonderfully. I can't wait to show you the design - but it'll be until September before I can show off the whole thing. :)

School's starting this Monday! Guess that means I can't be so lazy anymore or expect my husband to cook as much as he has been. :P

Leah

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

Dipping my toes

I think I'm ready to dip my toes back into the world of blogging! I have noticed that I'm not the only one taking a break/infrequent blogging lately. Good or bad, summer is getting to us. ;)

I survived the wedding! It was hot, but thankfully under shaded trees. I was at the wedding site for about 8 hours straight. Can you say exhausted? :P

I did grab this great shot of my sister-in-law, who was one of the bridesmaids. Obviously she's not the one who's hair needed braiding. She's dancing with Hunter, a cute 3.5 year kid of a church member that I've known since he was 6 months old. Can't believe I used to change his diaper! :)

I also made some yummy raspberry cobbler as soon as I saw the recipe on Meredith's blog.

My husband enjoyed it very much and gobbled up seconds right after he finished his first bowl. :) Great way to use the last 2 cartons of raspberry from Costco. Here's to hoping that blueberries go on sale soon. ;)

And no! My sewing machine hasn't been touched at all. I bet even you can see the layer of dust on it. But thankfully my husband suggested that we get a small fan for my room and I'll just aim it at the machine and sew away. :)

Leah

Taking a break

I'm going to be away from my blog until some time next week.

I'm kinda stressed out/overwhelmed at the moment. I haven't even turned on my sewing machine in over a week.

I taught a dyeing class on Monday - it was good fun and at least 4 ladies are going to dye again on their own. But it was tiring too and I'm wiped out.

We're now trying to tidy up details for my sister-in-law's wedding, which is this Saturday. We almost couldn't find my husband's suit. Thankfully it's at the dry cleaners getting cleaned and pressed now. Not only are we dealing with the cake (I'm totally confused where we're actually going to pick it up now), I'm also responsible for doing one of the bridesmaid's hair for the wedding. No pressure for perfection, eh? ;)

And they changed the photo session timing, so we have to be at the wedding site hours before the actual event. Which would make it about 4pm. In Arizona. In the summer. So, perfume or sunscreen, what's your vote? ;) (It's supposed to hit 100ish, and yes, it's an outdoor wedding. I will be packing several frozen water bottles in an ice chest. No other way to survive).

Sew... take some stitches for me, and I hope to return to a realm of normalcy sometime next week! :)

Leah

Still here!

I'm still fine and alive, been working on the mystery quilt for Cathy. She's already started to give out fabric instructions and cutting directions on her Yahoo group.

I can't reveal what it's going to look like until August, but might as well tempt you with a peek or two! ;)

Lazy days of summer are upon us right now - and we're going to need it, because in less than 2 weeks is my sister-in-law's wedding. I'm just having a really uncomfortable feeling about the fact that we have to bring the wedding cake from our hometown to the reception - 80 or so miles. Ugh. :) At least I finally figured out what I'm going to wear, and my husband things I look good in it, so good enough for me! :)

Leah

Like I'm not busy enough

I'm also testing a pattern for Cathy O'riginals. We're still in the designing/tweaking stage, but we're pretty excited where this quilt is going! :)

This pattern will become her August mystery, and I'll post about it again when she starts to give out the directions/fabric requirements. Believe me, if it's something that I think is worthy of using my hand dyes for, it's something that you'll enjoy too. :)

Speaking of enjoying... I really like pattern testing for Cathy O. I did a pattern last summer and now she even has the pattern on her webpage for you to buy! I know I'm starting to sound like a billboard for her works, but honestly, I don't get paid anything, except to keep the quilts I've made. :)

And can somebody please send me some cool weather? I'm a puddle. Pure ooze. June is pretty bad. Continuous nosebleeds and hot temps. But I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to July and the monsoon. Sure the nosebleeds finally go away, but the humidity is overwhelming and not bringing any relief.

I almost feel like the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz screeching "I'm melting... I'm melting!" ;)

Leah

A whole new world of quilting

I've finally taken the jump, to hand quilting. I'm using this 30" square quilt top. Cuz it's basically the smallest top I own. :P

My reason for taking up hand quilting is because my room gets too hot from 3-6pm everyday. It's in the corner of the building, so TWO sides get roasted. If I can't stand to be at my computer, there's no way I can stand to even sew. So I figured I could do some hand quilting in the cooler living room area. Or even in the bedroom with the fan blowing on me. Even my husband comments how hot my room gets. It's like 5-10 degrees hotter in here.

And here's a close up. I'll say this, quilting straight lines is for sissies. ;) Ok, so I might have not marked anything beforehand, just eyeballing it. :P

I measured my stitches (in a good area, of course!) and it's about 7-8 per inch, and I'm happy. I probably need to work harder on making sure that the thread catches the back, but since I'm using green thread with a green backing, I'm having trouble seeing if my stitches are going through or not.

I'm hand quilting in hoopless style. Why do I keep wanting to say hopeless? :P I have to keep reminding myself that the evenness counts more than the amount of stitches per inch.

And that is how I'm going to survive the summer and being forced out of my room. :)

Leah

We have a winner!

I cut all the names, folded them twice, toss them into the bowl and then mixed it up for 2 minutes straight.

Then it kinda hit me... oh my gosh, I have to actually PICK somebody?! It made me feel like whoever I picked, I'd be telling them that I love YOU more, so YOU can get my hand dyed fabric. :P

Ok. So I might have a skewed sense of logic. But I solved my dilemma by having my husband pick! No more guilt for me. :D

And congratulations to Nancy!

Nancy, I tried to email you, but it got rejected "because it contains prohibited virus or spam content". I'm clean, I swear! Wasn't even trying to attach anything. Anyhow, I would appreciate you emailing me your address. :)

Thanks ladies... I had fun. We'll have to do it again when I reach 300 posts. :)

Leah