Hey, so I remembered libraries exist!

I was a rampant library goer since elementary school, you kind of have to be when you're an avid reader.  After I was done with all my "higher learning" and moved back to WA in 2003 I just never got around to getting another library card.  When I started looking into quilting at the beginning of the year I saw a ton of books I wanted, but with full bookshelves and that thing called a "budget" I was in a bit of a quandary about figuring out where to start.  I've bought a number of sewing books that weren't that useful and I didn't want to repeat that with quilting/crafts.

I used to pacify the guilt I had at borrowing books instead of buying them by reminding myself that since I didn't have kids, but taxes went to support schools and libraries, that I should take advantage of the library services as much as possible.   Once I remembered that, I ran to get a card pronto!

Our library system is awesome, Seattle has so many branches I've managed to get a ton of books in the last two months so I could winnow through them and see which ones I felt I needed. (By the way, technology has sure advanced, I was totally embarrassed to find out that you don't check your books out at the desk anymore, you just go to a computer and scan them all in - I mean even held books are just on a shelf in alphabetical order by lendee name and you just go in, grab them yourself, check em out yourself...60 seconds tops, its amazing.)

First picture in Denyse Schmidt's Quilts - decided I must buy it no matter what, must make beds and all!

I have a technique for figuring out which books to purchase.  I use business cards to mark projects I'd like to make as I browse through them.  If I bookmark more than two projects I consider it, and if it has 4 pages bookmarked its a "must buy".

Yep, the only reason I'm writing this post is to say that if you aren't utilizing your library I highly recommend it!  My most recent purchases are;
Denyse Schmidt: Quilts - by Denyse Schmitdt and Bethany Lyttle
Fat Quarterly - Shape Workshop for /quilters -  by 4 awesome people
Doodle stitching: The Motif Collection: 400+ Easy Embroidery Designs by Aimee Ray

Rainbow-y Kona Patchwork Wheel Quilt in Progress

Blargh!  I've spent the last week sick, the kind of sick where you're loopy and babbling nonsense and people giggle at you.  The kind of sick where you don't leave the house and don't even want to go outside during the 8 weeks of sun Seattle gets a year.  The kind of sick where, horror of horrors... you can hardly sew....

I am optimistic that I am almost coherent now.  I finally felt up to working on the stitching and binding of my Handstitched quilt.

Alyssa over at Pile O' Fabric hosted a Kona charm swap last month. (She may be doing more so I'm keeping an eye out!)  I got to choose from some lighter purples (ewww!) and I chose crocus and thistle.   I figured when I got my charms in I'd just put them in a drawer and forget about them.

When they got here though, I was all OOOOH and AHHH at the pretty rainbow inside the envelope.  Though it would've made sense to put them away until later because I have hrmm... 3 large quilts, one lap quilt, and one mini in progress....

Poppy Makes - patchwork wheels quilt

I saw this really cool quilt over at Poppy Makes... using patchwork wheel blocks.  There is a great tutorial for this block over at Don't Call Me Betsy.

My hope is to match most of the Kona solid charms with prints, and end up with a variegated rainbow of a quilt.  (I do not trust this idea will translate into reality, but I'm giving it a try anyway!)

This is a bit of what I have started for this quilt.  This one is going to take a long time because my fabric stash isn't nearly big enough to have all the colors in it, and matching will be done by luck instead of purposefully ordering for it (we'll see how long I can hold out).  I'll certainly be rearranging things for a long time before making any placement decisions.

Alright, time for a good nights sleep so I have the energy to get back to hand stitching!  (Just kidding, I'm going to watch some Top Chef Master re-runs first ;)

Ali Makes Wine Part IV: Labels

The Banana Pineapple Viognier "mist" wine I just bottled is really meant to be drunk within a year or so unless you add extra sulphites to it (which I didn't).  Because of this I figured I didn't have to come up with an impressive label to stand the test of time.  I wasn't feeling creative so that really worked in my favor!   I opted for a very basic banana/pineapple picture but I felt I had to do something to it.  As I think the Polaroid quilts I've been seeing around Blogland are interesting, I decided to incorporate that into the label.  This way its like the banana and pineapple are posing for pictures during a date at the school dance. 

Only one wine kit I've used came with its own labels, so I tinkered up the rest myself (albeit not with my own artwork so much).   You can order generic labels, but it can be a lot more fun to do your own, and if you are giving out wine to friends and family it feels great to have the bottle to show a bit more of your personality.  As I was trying to figure out what to do for this last wine, I thought I'd revisit my my previous "work".

The very first wine I made was not from a kit.  I went to a local market and bought a bunch of red & concord grapes, red & black plums, red & Rainier cherries for the main fruits, and raisins,  golden raisins & a banana for body.  Oh and on top of that a can of Welches grape juice.  It actually became quite drinkable after a year or so.   It takes a lot more work and care to wing it, so thats why I'm grateful for wine kits.

My husband really likes Fennec foxes, so I made my first ever Photoshopped project for the wine around them.  I am not a giant fan of Photoshop since I don't use it often enough to remember how to do what, but I managed to  get 5 different elements together in one photo & I love how silly my label turned out. 

This wine tasted much worse than the label looked!

Last years wine "cooler"

My first wine kit

My favorite label to date

Zakka Style Sew Along - Sweet Sugar Cookie Sack

There are only 5 weeks left after this one in the Zakka Style sew along over at LRStitched.  I am doing two of them for sure, and possibly four. I really think quilt and sew alongs are my favorite things I've discovered this year!  This week the Zakka Style project is a sweet sugar cookie sack filled with felt sugar cookies.

I really have no use at all for felt sugar cookies, but what I do have a use for is a fun way to package some cat toys.  Last year I made a couple of catnip toys for Christmas presents, and I am hoping to get a bit more creative each year, as I've yet to meet a cat that was impressed by the same old gift.

With that in mind, I decided to embroider my label with a ca friendly motif.  I used Essex linen in steel for the body, an Anna Maria Horner chocolate lollipop print for the trim & mammabird in violet by Valori Wells for the label.

For thread I tried Aurifil for the first time, a variegated pink and white in 12 weight, the thickest thread they make.  I don't think my machine appreciated it to much, it was acting cranky!



I just made two catnip "cookies" since the holidays are so far away still.   Plain old cheap felt for the cookies themselves, with double sided web tape fusing the top layer of felt "frosting" on so it would stay secure before decorating with a "sprinkles". (Hey, I'm getting really good at put words in "quotes"!)  I stuffed the toys with poly-fil and a tablespoon of Sojos catnip.

I'm pretty sure the bag should be able to sit upright by itself,mine does not I don't think I trimmed enough off the inside corners, but it probably would if filled with heavier objects such as homemade cat treats.

I made the mistake of leaving the catnip toys out  while I ate lunch, and went back into the living room to find my kitty Tzatziki  hanging out on the ironing board playing with them already.  I guess that makes it a success!

The Totally Groovy Quilt Along

I was a bit behind on the" getting ready to get started on this" bit of the Totally Groovy QAL over at Pile O' Fabric

Friday afternoon I ordered my pattern and 22 hours later I got the mail and it was here!  Carolina Patchworks happens to be not too far up the road, which I DID know when I pinned the picture months ago but had since forgotten.  That's Gasworks park in the background, a place where I've gone since I could walk for picnics, field trips,  concerts, and had the most successful kite flying of my life!

 
I think I have my colors mostly narrowed down, but not quite.  I don't want to go with all Kona because I find a lot of the colors dull and flat when used in  large chunks.  Moda Bella swatches are so teeny it's not that helpful to try to chose from their color card, though I'm trying.  I love Pat Bravo's Pure Elements, but the colors seem to run on the more vibrant side, and I'm trying to go a bit more subtle with this (that and they tend to be a bit more expensive and this quilt takes quite a bit of fabric!)

I got kind of enamored of this bundle at the Fat Quarter Shop, and was torn between it and a pale washed beachy theme, but since it gets so gloomy here a lot of the year I thought I should play it safe and go with a bit more of a cheerful color scheme. 

I think I'm going to only make a throw or twin sized quilt from this pattern, since I don't think my husband would like our bed to be covered with something so retro.  ( I mean I asked but he seemed non-committal and I get the oddest looks from him when I ask him questions about quilts ;)

 It DOES look like, however, that if I wanted to add on to it after finishing the top, it is easy enough to change my mind and make a larger size.  Anyhoo, I think I'm going to opt for something along the colors to the left there. Oh choices choices!

I'm done! I'm done! I'm done!

Thank goodness for cat kennels!

Ok, I'm not done but I'm caught up!  I stayed up until 1:30 am Friday morning finishing the embroidery, making the backing, and sandwiching my Modern Medallion quilt for Handstitched class.   My husband wasn't home to hold it up for me so I just took a few quick horrible pictures before taking it back in to start marking for hand quilting.

  
I wet blocked the top (that was fun to try), and got a lot of the waviness out of the center medallion & paper pieced blocks.  I may do it again, as there is some rippling at the outer edges and the center has stretched again during sandwiching.

I had my share of problems with this quilt.  99% of them were because I didn't follow  written instructions, or watch a video all the way through to see what I was supposed to do.  That didn't stop me from failing to follow directions over and over again though!



Things I did "different"
- Square quilts are not my "thing"  so I added a couple of strips of fabric to elongate it into a rectangle.
- Altered the embroidery towards the center - some of its a hit, some a miss.  I was all over the map with Indian additions & lopsidedness.
 - Adding a ginkgo leaf stencil to two borders for the hand quilting. (I'm pretending ginkgo trees are from Morocco instead of China).

Quilt Back

Quilt back: I didn't really want to piece together fabric for a backing, but I hadn't planned ahead and then it was time to put it all together!  I used some leftover solids and a print, excess 2.5" strips from the border, some of the sheeting I used for the center medallion, and two 1/2 yards cuts of Illuminate in Orange from the 1001 Peeps collection by Lizzy House (I accidentally ordered half a yard from two different shops in the same week...hadn't planned on using it for this) I'm pretending the little candle holders are  genie lamps!

Peeps Illuminate in Orange

Tzatziki making herself at home

Ali Makes Wine Part III: Bottling

checking for clarity

So the third part of making wine (unless you are aging it for long term before getting around to it) is bottling.  This is the part I like least, as its messy and involves quite a bit of cleaning, but it is satisfying to get it accomplished (and it does make the living room look prettier once it is wine equipment free!). 

The wine is ready to be bottled when it's perfectly clear, which is much easier to see with white wines than reds.  The wine also should be free of carbon dioxide, if not, it will keep be a bit bubbly when you uncork it. 

Aging wine before bottling does have the benefit of giving it time to release any residual CO2 so you can avoid potential fizzy wine.

floor corker

I've upgraded a couple things from the basics, mainly from a hand corker to a Portuguese floor corker my Sister-in-law got me for Christmas a couple of years ago (which means I can bottle the wine all by myself, and if I arrange everything right I can sit in one spot without moving around to fill and cork the bottles, where I used to have to have my husband hand cork or risk having the bottles sit out getting exposed to air for too long) and a Buon Vino Automatic Auto Bottle Gravity Filler, which stops filling a bottle at a certain level, so you don't accidentally overfill it. I did try upgrading to a gadget that squirts sanitizing liquid up into the bottle so I didn't have to soak them, but it never worked.

bottle tree

After washing and sanitizing your bottles, it's easiest to let them drip dry them on a bottle tree next to where you're going to be doing the bottling.

When its time to fill them,  I set up 5 or 6 bottles at a time in a large pot to minimize splashes or spills so it doesn't make too much of a mess (note, I always make QUITE a mess during this process anyway, with splashing sanitizer and all). Then it's an easy process to cork one bottle while waiting for the next to fill.

Waiting to be labeled

After all your wine is bottled, you then get to deal with the cleaning and sanitizing again of all your tools, the carboy, and the messy floor.   The bottles then sit upright for a few days to make sure that they don't have CO2 in and blow a cork out.  After you label them, you can store them on their sides or upside down (if you use actual cork) or you can store them upright if you use the plastic corks that are becoming more common in wine bottling.

This batch of wine made 26 bottles, I did not siphon off the wine off the residue on the bottom into a new container before bottling so the bits of solids at the bottom started mixing back into the wine when there was quite a bit left.  This ended up costing $3.50 a bottle with the corks, chemicals and all.

Last but not least (and certainly funnest!) will be labeling.