Blogs-A good topic

                                                                          
You know how you start talking about one topic and soon you realize the topic has completely change as if in mid sentence?  Exactly what just happened on a topic posted on the ES forum.  The topic started as a question by one of the members that had just spent time looking at lovelies posted in the gallery, she noticed that a lot of the names of members who had posted the pictures do not appear to now be members, so she wondered where they went.    So now, where does blogging come in?    Well one member suggested maybe more of them had moved to blogging and were not spending the time on forums.  
That really got the ball rolling.  What members now have blogs?  The pitfalls and blessings that come from haveing a blog.  It really made me take a new look at blogging, I started so I could share my passion for sewing and anything beautiful. 

Some blog to promote their business, some to share their passions,  friendship's are formed because we have the same interest or have gone through the same ordeal.  Some blogs seem to just show how to make things or do things, others seem more personal and you get to know a person you would never have met if it were not for this person sharing themselves.

Now, the reason for following or not to follow seem to be different.  Leaving a comment is difficult for some as they feel there is little opportunity for interaction, other then leaving the comment to which the blogger rarely responds.

I enjoyed our conversation about blogging and being on a forum format, being able to respond to each other in 'real' time was something I also enjoyed.    I hope I learned a lot, I have rethought the blogging thing and know I will never have a huge blog, I will just enjoy the people I meet through blogging.  I know there are many, many blogs that share sewing but we each have a little bit different way of doing something and if I can follow someone through a process of their sewing I will learn something new.

So there are a few thoughts about blogging. I would love to hear your thoughts.   Maybe, tell why you blog.  What do you like about it, what do you not like.                                                                 

baby Quilt

How to Make a Tied Baby Quilt
An Easy Beginner Project

By MightyNancy

You’ll need:
1 ¼ yards “top” fabric (45” square, more or less)
1 ¼ yards “bottom” fabric
45” square of batting – loft is your choice
5 yards trim of your choice – I like rickrack or ruffled eyelet
yarn for tying the quilt
yarn needle
sewing machine
thread
hand sewing needle
quilt basting pins (these are just 2”-2 ½” safety pins) – about 40
straight pins
tailor’s chalk (regular chalk works, too)

Fabric widths vary a bit, and the ladies at the cutting table are human. Lay your two pieces of fabric out one on top of the other to ensure they’re the same size. Trim up as necessary. Set the bottom piece aside when you’re done.

With the sewing machine, sew trim to quilt top about ½” from the edge of the fabric. The trim edge that is supposed to show goes toward the inside of the square. Run ends of trim off the edge of the fabric. Later this will hide in the seam.

Now you’ll make a quilt sandwich. Start with your bottom fabric facedown, then batting, then top fabric face up.

Starting in the middle, baste with the quilt pins. Smooth the fabric as you work. I do this on the floor – my kingdom for a big table! Try to have your pins all “face” the same direction; this will be helpful in the next step.

You’re almost ready to tie! Your batting package will tell you how far apart to tie – generally 4-6” is the rule (samples are tied every 4.5”). If your top fabric has an even pattern to it, you can use it to space your ties. If not, you have some options. In the sample quilts, the bottom fabric had a grid pattern. I laid the basted quilt out bottom up, and used straight pins to mark the grid. On the top side, I marked each pin with tailor’s chalk and then removed the pins. Helpful hint: have your marking pins run in a different direction from your basting pins so you’ll know which are marks and which are basting!

Thread your yarn needle with a long piece of yarn. Pull the yarn through the eye of the needle until the cut ends are even. I start with about five yards. If you find this too cumbersome, you can use shorter lengths and just rethread more frequently. Do not knot the end.

Stitch, picking up your marked spots, leaving a 5” tail on the first stitch. Each stitch should take up about ¼”. Leave a tiny bit of slack between each stitch – you don’t want it taut, especially if your stitches are close together.

Keep stitching until you’re done! Having all your stitches run in the same direction gives you a more uniform look.

Snip between stitches. Take out the basting pins.

Tie each pair of yarn tails into square knots. Remember “Right over left and left over right!” Granny knots will come undone in the laundry.

Trim tails to a pleasing length.

Trim the batting just inside the stitch line of the trim

Woohoo, almost done! We’re ready to finish the edge! You have options. My favorite look is to turn the edges in (just flop ‘em under, wrapping the bottom fabric over the edge of the batting) and blindstitch by hand.

You can also turn the edges in, pin, and topstitch with the machine (much quicker, but it’s easy for it to go wonky on ya).

If you prefer a bound edge, skip the trimming step at the beginning and bind the quilt with a coordinating fabric (directions can be found in quilting books or online). This quilt is tied with variegated yarn (fun!) and bound with a coordinating plaid.

Voilá! A darling handmade quilt! They make great baby shower gifts.

Time Out

Sometimes we just have to send ourselves on a time out.  Maybe it’s just taking time to take your morning coffee out on the patio and enjoy the sounds of the birds and enjoy the flowers you took such pains to plants.  I think I had come to think of just sitting and enjoying the moments as wasted time.   It is not wasted at all, it is the refuel time it’s the time to try to quiet your mind from all the busy thoughts, time to put aside your pen and paper and stop making to do lists.  

Time to stand back and take a good look at what is really important in life and I did just that this week end by going high on a hill , looking down on the valley enjoying  the beauty God has created.  I was missing  seeing this because my to do list was  so full. Not one time had I written STOP, stop and take a look around.  Stop worrying, worry never did solve a problem.  I have the gift of being able to say,”here God, you take this one,”  I just want to sit back and enjoy the beauty you created.

 

The power of it all can really take my breath away.  What can be so important that stops us from just sitting down and trying to take it all in.

Happy Mothers Day

Even though I did not know you, I have loved you.   I have always wanted to have a ‘real’ mom to say that to.  Oh, I had a stand in for mother daughter teas I never had the real thing.   I was always so jealous of the girls that had their mom’s with them and the times at school when we made mother day cards were hard.

I did almost meet you, you were the lady that came to the house when I was little and no one would confess that yes, that lady was your mom. In fact my whole ‘other’ family was kept from me, but I knew they were there and I searched for  them to no avail. Then one day a call came, it opened up a new world for me, it was a call from my cousin Kathy.  Wow!!  I found out my mothers sister was still living and that yes I had cousins.   A family reunion was put together and I was able to meet my family. This was the first time in my life I felt at home and it was so hard to leave when the time came for us to go our separate ways once again.

There is a long story that goes with all of this but for now I just want to say “Happy Mothers Day”  and I love you so much.

Thank you to my cousins who had pictures and letters to share with us.  I love the picture of mom with sis.

So many questions will always go unanswered, then again so many were answered.