Me, Myself and Memories

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  Noreen 4:57 am on January 8, 2017 Permalink  

  Vikings – Under the Needle 

  

  The Vikings t-shirt quilt is under the needle and there is no going back for me. I only do a few of the blocks and then a rest of the arms and shoulders is taken. I have no time frame. It is going well, but man oh man, is it heavy and bulky. I have had many breaks on this project in the last several days. My brother-in-law called yesterday morning before I even had a drop of coffee in me. I realize there are times when my sister’s husband needs to have some one-on-one after her death. I can do that and I can be there. Yesterday afternoon, nephew Brett texted until I had to recharge my phone battery. Lots of “what if . . . “, “should I . . . ” in his quest for good quilting. Today, I had been up with one cup of coffee in me when long time friend Renee came over. Four hours later we had all the world’s problems solved. Dennis had headed to a trade show a few miles to the north. When the home was quiet, I did come down and begin the quilting process. As I said, all is going well with the project, and thus, all is well on Stauffer Avenue.

   
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  Noreen 5:08 am on January 7, 2017 Permalink  

  My Security Blanket 

  

  My security blanket doesn’t need fringes or quilt batting. All I need is to able to see all the green lights on the sump pump unit as well a the battery backup. Our annual checkup was A.O.K. They are doing 15 month service calls just to see how their unit is doing in various seasons. That sounded good to me. I have my totes back on my shelves and we are set for another go-round of pumping. The birds know where there is open water for a drink in this severe cold weather as the underground line has a grate on the surface of our yard.  Every several minutes there is a new batch of water blown to the surface.  Ahh, security at its max.

   
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  Noreen 4:27 am on January 6, 2017 Permalink  

  This was a very telling day. A friend had ask me to embroider two separate motifs onto two t-shirts. I have never worked with t-shirts, but now was as good a time as any to try it out. The motifs designs were chosen by the friend along with the size that they wanted of the finished product. I went into this with an open mind and a willing heart.

  I have been in the sewing studio for seven hours and there is still 15,000 stitches to go on the last design. The grand total was close to 100,000. I don’t have any negative felling about this. There were times when the machine would be running the same color for 60 minutes or better. I decided that this would be a wonderful day to clean the entire basement. I could keep an ear out for the sewing machine’s need of a thread color change or if the bobbin needed refilling.

  Tomorrow “Complete Basements” will be coming to do the annual check of our sump pump, and I know he appreciates as much room to work his magic as possible. Another good chance for cleaning and sorting and even pitching a bit. The annual visit is so important as the life time warranty is null and void if the annual visit is not honored. For as much rain as we have had and as much as the sump pump is still running, that is a gamble I am not willing to take.

  In the meantime, I spent some time on my computer here in the sewing studio and am working out a price list for future embroidery requests if they happen to occur. I don’t anticipate that there would be a huge demand for one time designs, but today is proof that it does happen. There is the cost of the purchase of the design from online companies selections, and then from there it is costs per 10,000 stitches, cost of thread, prep of item, etc. I don’t plan on getting rich, but I don’t plan on always doing it for nothing. This was a day of food for thought. In the meantime, Dennis has supper covered, my basement is nice and clean and I will have a friend that will be happy. It will be interesting to see if there is an offering of any type of re-reimbursement. That’s okay, I’ll be ready next time.

   
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  Noreen 5:02 am on January 5, 2017 Permalink  

  Well, what’s a body to do when I said I was taking the day off. I did listen to the news and abided by the advice that all older people should stay indoors if possible. I could work with that. I put away one of my main pet peeves when working at sewing projects. I sorted through my stick pins and threw away all the bent ones. It happens when I force pins through multi layers and, yup, there the bent suckers are to be picked up again only to be passed over. Out they went. May not seem like a worthy thing to do with my time. Believe me . . . butt deep in a project that needs to be kept in place there may be only one chance to secure it before it slips into a do-over.

  Dennis’ nephew, Brett, texted, and texted – complete with photos. Finally he came over and needed a sounding board. He is anticipating purchasing a long arm quilter on Craig’s List. We checked over the spec info, compared what there was on eBay, and then checked some more. The compete purchase package at $1,300 seems too good to be true. It would not surprise me if he doesn’t make a trip to Bloomington in the next several days. A fellow with a seasonal concrete business that likes to stay busy. I like that. Better than the bars, pull tabs, or casinos.

   
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  Noreen 3:49 am on January 4, 2017 Permalink  

  Grammie’s Time Out 

  

  The top of this Viking’s t- shirt quilt is complete, meaning this Grammie is calling a time-out. Lots of measuring, sewing, trimming and second guessing. Thanks to Dennis for helping with the cutting of the t-shirts and the border fabric. The measurement of the top is 85″ x 85″. With the benefit of this sewing machine having the assist on the pressure foot for keeping the fabrics moving, not having to lower and raise the pressure foot manually and not having to cut the threads manually, I can tell by my hands, arms and shoulders not being weary after working on this for three days.  Each little feature on its own may not sound like a lot, but in the end, it is telling.  It was a thrill to be able to iron seams and not have the project pull off of the ironing surface.  Again . . . a win, win for the old body.  The lights in the sewing studio are dimmed as I type. Tomorrow is another day for planning and scheming for the backing and batting process. Or . . . it may just mean a day off.

  

   
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  Noreen 4:09 am on January 3, 2017 Permalink  

  Handy Hooks 

  

  My sewing studio is filled with all types of hooks. Hooks for embroidery hoops, hooks for spare scissors and who can discount nails that can work as a place to hook extra cutting mats. Today I am featuring my crochet hooks. At a time when my friend Lorraine realized her days of sewing was coming to a fast end, she gave me all of her sewing thread. My oh my, what a generous gift. I doubt that thread purchasing will be in my future any time soon.  At that time it became handy to have multiple bobbins threaded. A bobbin dropped will roll and roll and roll . . . right to the floor drain. There is a definite reason my kids know I don’t throw out very many items that I have come by from friends and family. Many of these crochet hooks were from Carrie and Kevin’s grandmother, Esther Schafer. Not only do they make the perfect partnering of spool and bobbin, they evoke a lot of fond memories.

   
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  Noreen 5:26 am on January 2, 2017 Permalink  

  Purple is Here – 

  

  Purple is here and I don’t mean the artist “Prince.” Though the photo does not allow them to appear all that purple, the Vikings t-shirts that are both purple and black have been cut up and I am now working with sizing them after the stabilizer has been applied. My sewing studio had bare tables from Friday evening until this Sunday morning. I surely can’t let all the creative juices escape by a total air exchange.

   
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  Noreen 5:04 am on January 1, 2017 Permalink  

  So few hours left in 2016. I am finishing up the year in a good place. I don’t want for anything. My health is good. All my titanium parts are serving me well, as long as I honor them in how they were meant to enhance my life. My mind tells me that I am 30 and am invincible. Ya, right. My gate is slower and a bit wobbly sometimes. I am thankful that I know I have to keep my mind sharp. I warn Dennis that at times I might not be as patient as I should be. In my defense, there are many things that are under the umbrella of being the “detail person” here on Stauffer Avenue. I don’t anticipate having anything change in 2017. What I anticipate and what the Lord has in store for me . . . well, we all know how worlds can change in a heartbeat.

  May God bless each and every one of us going into the new year. May we live to his glory.

   
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  Noreen 3:55 am on December 31, 2016 Permalink  

  Why So Long? 

  

  I have looked in awe and been in awe of these ironing board extensions when they were showcased in quilt shops for several years. Why did I put this off? All I needed to do was fly it past Dennis and here we are not but five days later and I feel like I have a whole new outlook on getting projects laid out and ready for ironing or sewing. When what we have been struggling with becomes the final straw . . . action is taken. It is just a bit above waist high . . . easy on the back with the size being 56″ x 24″. We took our time and all three layers needed for it to have some loft in the finial surface came out wrinkle free. I couldn’t handle the stapler, but I sure could stretch the fabrics for Dennis to plunk a stable in. A good old Mary Proctor product that was new in 1962 is now the foundation of a 2016 update.   Not many items make it 54 years with many more years now to be enjoyed.  Fantastic.

   
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  Noreen 5:41 am on December 30, 2016 Permalink  

  A windy breezy day on Stauffer Avenue. There was no full moon last night but then there are just some nights when rest does not take us over for the hours when we need it. Dennis may have caught up with some “winks” today in his recliner. We were dog sitting Sandy’s dog Tix today. Tix and I made sure to stay in the sewing studio. It didn’t hurt that Tix had a few Honey Nut Cheerios as a treat. The snow has dropped considerably these last days, making room for more that is bound to come. I have a huge pot of chili going for supper and I think there may be some for several freezer containers. As always, life on Stauffer is good.