tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57507331633509390942024-03-13T05:56:59.025-05:00Jill's ChatCats, Knitting, Quilting and more - Tales from my StudioJillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.comBlogger507125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-48905175006765229472015-04-20T12:09:00.001-05:002015-04-20T12:09:38.566-05:00Just a few picturesI haven't posted pictures for a long time but thought I'd do a "here's what's been going on this winter" post in pictures.<div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RD2Yb_x0gj0/VTUyzYPV4aI/AAAAAAAAEOw/8ffWv8boG_Q/s640/blogger-image-411610767.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RD2Yb_x0gj0/VTUyzYPV4aI/AAAAAAAAEOw/8ffWv8boG_Q/s640/blogger-image-411610767.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">My friend and I have spent a great deal of time in LA doing some family business and we managed to add a bit of fun into the trips. One trip we went to Wheel of Fortune taping. The 3rd of the 3 shows we saw will be on April 23. We a sitting right in front of the family of the winner if you want to see the top 3" of my head.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iwpsDmCxDbg/VTUyxyGpdhI/AAAAAAAAEOg/yxj8Q436SSM/s640/blogger-image--2088887615.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iwpsDmCxDbg/VTUyxyGpdhI/AAAAAAAAEOg/yxj8Q436SSM/s640/blogger-image--2088887615.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The view from the deck of the house I stay at has been green and beautiful all winter. A wonderful change from the grey/white of Minnesota winters.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CkKkV8I8xpI/VTUy0Pg28jI/AAAAAAAAEO4/ap9VjXP5aNc/s640/blogger-image--1960665622.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CkKkV8I8xpI/VTUy0Pg28jI/AAAAAAAAEO4/ap9VjXP5aNc/s640/blogger-image--1960665622.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Every flight out there gave us wonderful views of the Rockies. However, until the last couple trips we usually flew over in the dark so couldn't enjoy the view.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-C8HcPMCxmow/VTUyw_2e5-I/AAAAAAAAEOY/OR9L8Jq_09U/s640/blogger-image-1427519609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-C8HcPMCxmow/VTUyw_2e5-I/AAAAAAAAEOY/OR9L8Jq_09U/s640/blogger-image-1427519609.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">There has been frequent meals at the beach because, how can you be a few minutes from the ocean and not take advantage of it!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CqPuukOTI5A/VTUywNMdbjI/AAAAAAAAEOQ/jrLHlx3Qg24/s640/blogger-image--2035328386.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CqPuukOTI5A/VTUywNMdbjI/AAAAAAAAEOQ/jrLHlx3Qg24/s640/blogger-image--2035328386.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Somewhere down there is "my" LA house. Not actually my house but while I go out and do the family business it's the house I call mine because we all need to feel like we belong where we are at.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xxPgs1F8U1o/VTUyylLLLfI/AAAAAAAAEOo/8Flv91neaxg/s640/blogger-image-1421320641.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xxPgs1F8U1o/VTUyylLLLfI/AAAAAAAAEOo/8Flv91neaxg/s640/blogger-image-1421320641.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The last trip we headed to the Ahmanson theater. The Broadway production of Cinderella is playing there using the Rogers and Hammerstein music and it was wonderful! It's heading the Chicago and Minneapolis later this year and I would recommend it to everyone with kids or not. There were little girls dressed up in their princess dresses and adults who saw the musical on TV when we were kids. Everyone loved it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Hp7Sx-ymr64/VTUyvH7XTsI/AAAAAAAAEOI/wCa5QcZEDaQ/s640/blogger-image-96187600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Hp7Sx-ymr64/VTUyvH7XTsI/AAAAAAAAEOI/wCa5QcZEDaQ/s640/blogger-image-96187600.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">There has also been a good deal of knitting in the evenings but I haven't gotten around to taking pictures of the finished items yet. I'll save that for the next post. In the meantime, I have to clean the house, do some paperwork, get ready for a party, head out to the dentist. All sorts of things to keep me busy at home.</div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><br></div>Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-65491553210023419942015-04-02T21:56:00.001-05:002015-04-02T21:56:09.564-05:00Seven Years AgoApril 2, 2007 I wrote my first blog post. That was seven years ago. I know the last several months I've been silent but with everything going on I just haven't had the desire to write here. But, this being my blogiversary I thought I should post something even if it was just to say, I'm still here.<br />
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Seven years ago Mom and Dad were dealing with memory and aging issues. Dad had Alzheimer's and Mom was just your every day old age dementia. I was caring for them with the help of the people at their individual residents. My brother and sister-in-law were living in LA. My aunt was living in her apartment/care center. And my other aunt and uncle were living at home. None of that is the same anymore. Of all those people only my one aunt remains. She lives in a memory care home and is now dealing with Alzheimer's in her own way. You just never know what seven years will bring. Looking at this paragraph you would first think, how sad- everyone is gone. That's true but it's not the only story of the past seven years.<br />
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My cousin's children have grown up and are now incredible young adults attending college. My other cousin's daughters have had major life changes. One got married, has her own business and now has a wonderful husband, two beautiful children and a new home. Her other daughter is a manager at a retail store and moving up the ladder at her company while enjoying the company of the love of her life and they have a new home. Friends of mine have all stayed close and provide support and good times. One friend has gotten much closer through the past six months and become my travel buddy with all that is going on in LA. My knitting group meets regularly and has retreats during the year.<br />
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I've had the chance the travel to quilt shows and knitting shows. I retired this year and plan on more trips and fun times. So, while life has taken away many of my loved ones it has also given many new opportunities and I've met new wonderful friends in LA that I enjoy spending time with when I'm out there. It all depends on how you look at things.<br />
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Hopefully soon I'll be ready to start blogging again and showing off all the fun things I've been doing, things I've been knitting and quilting and exciting things I'm going to be doing. In the meantime, I'm here. Chief is here. Bert is here. And- were all good.<br />
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<br />Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-56157495018665817212014-12-24T14:48:00.000-06:002014-12-27T13:20:45.624-06:00So - what's been happening?I went off the blogging radar in September just before heading out to the Fallen Firefighter Memorial Service and since then life has been quite interesting.<br />
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Friends and family have been kept up to date and people who just come here to see quilting, knitting and cat pictures really don't need the whole story so all I'll say here is a quick up date. The day after the service for my sister-in-law (she was a Fire Captain- see older posts) my brother had a massive heart attack and passed away. We were in Colorado for the memorial so dealing with an out of state death was challenging. Since then, as the only surviving family member, I've been flying back and forth between home and California to handle the estate. Changing time zones and weather and life style so frequently has messed with my routine and things like the blog have been forgotten.<br />
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The past couple months I have NOT forgotten knitting and quilting. Knitting in an airplane works well if you bring something small. Luckily I've been flying with a friend and she is also a knitter so she understands my need to use those 3 hours to knit.<br />
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Here's some of my knitting the past couple months.<br />
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I decided to use up some old lace yarn and make some cowls. I made one and kind of got into a grove and before I knew it I had made 3. Then I changed up the stitch pattern a bit and made another one.<br />
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The pattern is <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/liquid-amber" target="_blank">Liquid Amber</a> by Stacy Simpson Duke and the yarn is Knit Picks Gossamer. This yarn has been in my stash for several years and I notice its no longer available .<br />
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I made one in the Pink for a friend's daughter and one in blue and since there was some leftover yarn I made one using both colors every other row.<br />
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Then surprise - I still had more yarn so I tried making a pink one using a Fan and feathers stitch (which I forgot to get an individual picture of). I'm guessing one of these days there will be another blue one. These are great for quick gifts.<br />
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Then I found some Knit Picks Chroma in my stash - 2 balls of Impressionist. Another yarn no longer available (colorway that is). Because of my running back and forth to California, I wasn't sure I could host Christmas for the family this year. My cousin's daughter volunteered and as a thank you I spent a couple flights making a <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/molly-11" target="_blank">Molly scarf</a> with the Chroma. It's a simple pattern with a different look.<br />
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I also grabbed a skein of Patons Classic Wool from the stash and started making a pair of gloves. The pattern I used is <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/treads-a-tipless-gloves-pattern" target="_blank">Treads</a> which is a fingerless glove but its easy to just keep going and making the fingers into a full glove. Being a design that isn't fussy looking and the yarn (gray) I'll be able to use these for a guy or girl gift when needed.<br />
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The pattern has a braid that requires a paying attention to that row and has linen stitch section to give a bit of interest. All in all I'm enjoying knitting these. (one done - one to go)<br />
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I also finished my Desert Star Rug that I was crocheting when I got around to it. It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be and I still need to block it but, here's a shot of the rug pre-blocking.<br />
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Finally, I started knitting a lace doily. For a long time I've wanted to to knit a Herbert Neibling pattern and never got around to it. <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/frosted-ferns-7633" target="_blank">Frosted Ferns</a> has been translated into English and it's been an interesting knit. It's not your typical lace knit. There's cross stitches, large sections of solid knitting, double yarnovers and more to keep you interested.</div>
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So, that's the last couple months, at least knitting and crochet stuff. There's also been quilting and other things going on but this post has gone on long enough and its Christmas Eve and time to get ready to celebrate.</div>
Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-24857798428324922812014-10-28T00:38:00.000-05:002014-10-28T00:38:29.692-05:00Just checking inI had a friend contact me today saying she had a problem with my blog. So - this post is just to check things out. My life the past 1 1/2 months has been a bit hectic and I'll write some about it and about giving the quilt to my brother but right now is just not the right time for that post.<br />
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There were some adventures and some life changes but - that's for another time.<br />
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Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-51370227771226370232014-09-16T12:32:00.001-05:002014-09-16T12:32:32.016-05:00Jan RememberedThis coming weekend is the National Firefighter Memorial ceremony in Colorado Springs. Jan, my sister-in-law will be added to the wall. To add to the special weekend, I worked hard to finish the memory quilt to bring and give my brother. Last Christmas when he came I asked him to bring me some of her fire fighter t-shirts and I would make a memory quilt. Something of hers he could wrap himself in and remember.<br />
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Being one of the world's best procrastinators I rarely finish anything early but, the quilt is done and ready to bring to Jim. <br />
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Working with t-shirts for quilts creates special problems. You need to stabilze the knit t-shirt material so it doesn't stretch out of shape and cause problems for the quilt.<br />
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All the t-shirts were different sized pictures so making standard blocks didn't work. I ended up making 16 - 18" blocked and pieced it 4x4. So it wouldn't be too busy, I decided on one background material and because Jim loves baseball and he and Jan would go to many games together - the background material is little baseballs. The border is bigger baseballs on a navy background to frame the main quilt. <br />
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All in all I think it turned out pretty good and hope Jim likes it when he sees it.<br />
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One of my "oh my" moments making this was a few days ago on Sept 11 while I was quilting it all together. I realized I was quilting the 9-11 t-shirts from when Jan went out to NY after 9-11 to help out and go to funerals. They had lost so many fire fighters that day and had so many funerals that fire departments around the country sent representatives out there to help honor the fallen at their funerals. And now Jan's name will be added to the wall that contains the names of these fallen heroes.<br />
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Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-82094329234899955112014-07-26T23:01:00.001-05:002014-07-26T23:02:18.978-05:00Catch Up TimeSummer finally came and it made me forget how to type on the laptop keyboard. At least that's my story....<br />
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Father's Day was my last post and so much has happened since then. A quick run down:<br />
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The godson's wedding took place. It was beautiful, exciting, wonderful, all the things you want a wedding to be. New goddaughter-in-law is such a sweet person and I can't imagine anyone better for godson. They went on a cruise around Italy, Greece and other places in that part of the world. They went to the All-star game and events here. Godson was the Target mascot, Bulldog, in the mascot race and won! He also caught a ball in the homerun tourney. They are enjoying their summer and life together to the max!<br />
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I had my 15th anniversary at work. Holy cow! 15 years!! It seems like I've been there forever but it also feels like I just got there. So many people have come and gone over the years but also many people are still there from when I started. I got a jacket with company logo and an extra day off. Better than nothing and I'm glad to accept the "gifts".<br />
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Between the non-stop rain and the lawn needing to dry out after the rains it took forever to get around to mowing the back yard. Front looked OK but the back got better bad. It's looking OK now but about time to mow again.<br />
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I made a wall hanging because I needed to do something fairly small between working on the godson quilt. I've also been working on a few smaller knitting projects - hat, socks, and a crochet project.<br />
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Pretend other project pictures are here - I'll get my act together and take some to post later.</div>
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Someone at work just had a baby boy so I made a sweater with multiple fronts. Off white cotton with 3 separate front pieces (off white, blue and brown) that button on both the right and the left. I figured cotton would be good for a summer baby and the multiple fronts would be good for the "occasional" spit up and for being able to use the same sweater for multiple outfits.<br />
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The boys are enjoying their summer by doing a all of sleeping and eating and running around the house like crazy. Wait - that's what they always do. Guess no changes here.<br />
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<em>Life is good, why should we make any changes?!</em></div>
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<em>Go away, I'm busy sleeping!</em></div>
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Finally, I bought a new SUV this week. I loved my Saturn Vue but it was getting a little old and I didn't want to have a car that ended up in the shop all the time. I got a really good deal and talked them into a moonroof for only $300 because it was on the only one available n the color I wanted and I did the whole "love it but don't know if I can justify the extra price" thing and the sales guy was a brand new salesperson and really wanted his first sale of a Rogue. We both came out happy.<br />
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Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-25012009419248262562014-06-15T11:22:00.000-05:002014-06-15T11:22:15.504-05:00Father's DayFather's Day is such a different day when you no longer have a Dad living. But - no matter - I had the best Dad in the world. Even when he isn't here, he is. I have memories.So, today I will celebrate the person he was and remember all the great times, teaching times, loving times.<br />
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In live in the house I grew up in. That means it is filled with Dad. The clock he made, The basement he finished. His tools. The rocking chair he refinished. I can't go anywhere in the house without some physical reminder of Dad. But there's more.</div>
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In the kitchen I remember the time Dad was in his brown hoodie looking out at the back yard and our white cat was sitting on the TV next to him. Both were just looking out seeing something I couldn't see. He was often deep in thought.</div>
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In the basement I can see him in his workroom making the bench for my loom because I happene to tell him about one I saw and liked. Or when I was younger, practising shots at the pool table.</div>
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In the yard, he's there. Mowing the lawn, clearing out weeds, practising his horseshoes. Everywhere I go, he's here.</div>
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So, Happy Father's Day Dad. Thank you for choosing to be my Dad. Thank you for all the wonderful memories that will stay with me forever.</div>
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Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-20428165085978935882014-06-01T12:51:00.000-05:002014-06-01T12:51:54.752-05:00The Quilt - Mostly revealedGodson and future god daughter-in-law (J&K) have seen the quilt mostly done at their party last weekend so I can post a few pictures without worried that someone they know will see it and tell them.<br />
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Before showing a few pictures, a little bit of back story. You may or may not remember me talking about BFF in past posts. Laurie and I were joined at the hip for much of our school years and that friendship remained until they day she died almost 10 years ago. At the time the boys were in their early 20s so were grown up but they are such special boys we've always stayed close. J's older brother and J have come to our groups parties and kept us up to date on their lives. I've been so blessed to have them around. <br />
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Back 10 (ish) years ago when we cleaned out Laurie's house I kept a box of her shirts thinking some day I would make a quilt of each of the boys. Time passed - no quilts - more procrastination - no quilts. You get the picture. Then J got engaged. Perfect time to make one of the quilts. And this is what I can show you some of the pictures of now.<br />
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Back about a year ago I started playing with design ideas. I liked this but the border didn't work and having the stars go all the way to the border just looked wrong.<br />
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At Christmas while talking to J&K I found out their bedroom would have sage in it so I started playing with the colors and changed the border. I also added some background between the border center. Much better! </div>
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Liked the colors but tried some different ones. The border seemed too busy and the center stars were going to be paper pieced and time was running out so I simplified the center stars. Also, I kept playing around with the brown edging of the center piece. One thing that's so great about EQ7 (Electric Quilt 7) is the ability to play around with colors, designs and everything until you like the final look. Much better to do that on the computer than with actual fabric!</div>
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Then I found out more about their colors and the lilac changed to a green/sage and I made some other color changes. That worked. The stars around the outside are not the pale color but rather the centers are made with pieces of Laurie's shirts.</div>
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Design settled on - time to get fabric. I tried buying fabric from an online source and they were wonderful. However, I didn't read one small word in the background fabric description - flannel. OOPS! It was also more orange/gold than I wanted so I've got 7 yards of orange/gold flannel sitting around. The brown was more orange and the pale green was bright and slightly sparkly. All of them match but they didn't go with my vision of what I wanted. Off to the store to get fabric in person, other than 2 of the greens. Oh well, all the fabric was good and it will be used for something else, someday. </div>
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Bert has discovered quilting and the joys of helping out. He loves when I trim up the blocks. The stars and snail's trails block were made by paper piecing so there was a lot of Bert goodies after each block was completed.</div>
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The pale color in the center stars is a fabric I had and it worked out perfect. It's pale brown, sage/green and pale-pale pink. It gives a little something else to rest your eyes on between the other green stars. The border (green leaves on the right of the picture) was one of the original fabrics I bought. It's actually the center background and not the outer border. The light green matched the light green of the leaves fabric perfectly even if the picture doesn't quite show that.<br />
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Here's the center before it got the green leaves added. Everything blends well and the blocks mix to create and interesting look.</div>
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That's it for now. I'll post more pictures when I finish quilting. The border is done, the binding is on. The center stars have been outline quilted. Things are starting to look complete. But before I finish the quilt - I need to head out and find a new outfit to wear next weekend to the wedding. Nothing like waiting till the last minute!</div>
Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-12047026346915610962014-05-19T20:50:00.000-05:002014-05-19T20:51:13.692-05:00Typical DaySince I'm working on a project I can't post pictures of (yet) I thought I'd show what a typical day looks like around here when I'm home.<br />
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There's usually a little TV watching. I never have to worry about being lonely because the Boys like to watch TV too, Sometimes near the TV like other pictures I've shown and sometimes they like to hang out with me watching TV.<br />
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What!? Did you think I was actually going to post pictures of me?</div>
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We also enjoy dining together. Of course there are times when I think we share a little too much when dining.</div>
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After dining the boys usually like to take a little nap. You'd think with all his fur Chief wouldn't get cold but sometimes he need a little extra warmth.</div>
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Yes, that's Chief's tail under the covers and partly under Bert.</div>
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Finally, there are times the boys think I need a little extra exercise and they like to create special obstacle course for me to get from the TV room to the bathroom. Actually, this happens quite frequently and I always have to walk between the 2 rooms with a shuffle to be sure I don't step on cats or tails.</div>
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Well, there you have it, a typical day around here. As you can see I'm never lonely and life always has new adventures around here.</div>
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Pictures of the project will be coming in a week or 2.</div>
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Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-21398857639453356572014-05-11T15:39:00.000-05:002014-05-11T15:39:22.353-05:00Mother's Day - the big pictureI grew up with a great mother. She was a person everyone loved. "You're so lucky to have her as a mother." was a common comment. I'd answer back something about she was great but living with her could be a challenge. Mom didn't make decisions well, she was always cared for by Grandpa or Dad and never lived independently. That was one of the reasons she would tell me the story about Grandma warning her not to let me lose my spunk. Mostly I didn't. <br />
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What Mom didn't have, she tried to cultivate in me like "spunk". But there were things Mom did have that I learned from her. Things like caring for others, a solid belief in God, the importance of family and so much more. She started me young in being creative and saw that was something built into me and something that I needed. I made my first machine sewn thing (a nightgown) when I was about 8 years old but I was already hand sewing and knitting before that with the help of Grandma and Mom.<br />
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My creativity came from more than just Mom getting me started on things. I had a second mother. The one that gave me life. In a time when being an unwed mother was looked down on, she gave me life and then gave me a chance at a good life by giving me up for adoption. I thank her frequently in my thoughts for not finding some back alley doctor so she wouldn't have to go through 9 months of people staring at her. I thank her for believing in giving me my life that I've enjoyed. <br />
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I met my birth mother when I was 25 years old. It was not one of the meetings like you see on TV where everyone hugs and becomes instant family or where the child cries and wonders why they were given up. It was a one time meeting where we talked for a few hours and never met again. I learned she was a creative person, had a son 18 months older than me, married and had a good life. We just didn't make a connection that needed meeting anymore. We both got what we needed: I saw who I came from and she saw I had a good life. It was enough for us.<br />
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There have been other mother's in my life including my godmother/aunt, my other aunt, my knitting mother (friend of family who owned the first yarn shop I worked in), my best friend's mother and so many more. Each mother has given me lessons in life and helped to make me the person I am today.<br />
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I looked up the meaning of mother in the dictionary and found it to be more than just the lady we usually call Mom. It includes:<br />
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<span id="hotword"><span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">to</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">be</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">the</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">mother</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">of;</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">give</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">origin</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">or</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">rise</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">to.</span> </span><br />
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<span id="hotword"><span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">to</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">acknowledge</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">oneself</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">the</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">author</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">of;</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">assume</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">as</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">one's</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">own.</span> </span></div>
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<span class="dnindex"><span id="hotword"></span></span><div class="dndata" style="z-index: 2030;">
<span id="hotword"><span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">to</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">care</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">for</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">or</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">protect</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">like</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">a</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">mother;</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">act</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">maternally</span> <span class="hwc" id="hotword" name="hotword">toward.</span> </span></div>
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<span>So, today I celebrate not only Mom but all the other's in my life who have given their time, love and wisdom. I also celebrate the people in my life who have cared for or protected me, the people who have given rise to my creativity - my teachers, mentors and life guides.</span></div>
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<span>Thank you all and Happy Mother's Day!</span></div>
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Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-38752892568546634162014-04-23T21:09:00.000-05:002014-04-23T21:09:11.102-05:00Dreaming big DreamsThe past few months Chief has really gotten into watching TV from about 2 inches away. As I said before Jimmy Fallon is one of his favorites. But - he also likes to dream big and watch his relatives in the wild. Chief loves Animal Planet and the big cat shows. He was very excited to watch the pride of lions and a dead hippo but I didn't think that pictures would be a good one to share here. (not into dead hippo pics)<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wKH5MXqiMkc/U1hw8eg1ysI/AAAAAAAAEGc/VGnCW0X0iKI/s1600/2014-0422-01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wKH5MXqiMkc/U1hw8eg1ysI/AAAAAAAAEGc/VGnCW0X0iKI/s1600/2014-0422-01.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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I have big dreams too. Mine are currently revolving around getting the quilt project done on time and having it turn out totally awesome. Two big dreams.<br />
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Here's a little bit of the quilt but not enough to really show it off, just in case anyone is looking here who shouldn't be!<br />
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There are lots of the 2 different stars and the snail's trails and the darker green is part of an inner border. There's an outer border with other stuff going on. When it is finished and has been delivered I'll be able to show the full quilt. Until then this (and pictures of Bert buried in scraps) is all I'll be able to show.Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-51139486064312768252014-04-19T08:58:00.001-05:002014-04-19T08:58:00.675-05:00Quilting buddy<div><br></div>I thought I was going to get some trimming done on the blocks in peace. I was wrong. <div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-XgeUcE-65LU/U1KA5tn94hI/AAAAAAAAEGM/H7LyW_sP5jc/s640/blogger-image-2070730531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-XgeUcE-65LU/U1KA5tn94hI/AAAAAAAAEGM/H7LyW_sP5jc/s640/blogger-image-2070730531.jpg"></a></div>Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-21540972572096187242014-04-13T15:35:00.000-05:002014-04-13T15:35:07.842-05:00Fixin' SlippersI have a pair of knit slippers that I put on as soon as I get home. They're made out of "last forever" acrylic yarn and have a double layered sole. I've worn them forever and unfortunately, the outer sole has finally worn through. I decided a few weeks back I needed to fix the growing hole but didn't want to redo the whole sole. A plan had to be made.<br />
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The plan I came up with was to crochet a patch on top of the sole hole. It turned out working really well so I decided to share my ugly but effective fix with you.<br />
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First the slipper and its sad hole.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gvGotzKllrI/U0rw0hXCzBI/AAAAAAAAEFI/lo4mffLXHcg/s1600/2014-0402-03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gvGotzKllrI/U0rw0hXCzBI/AAAAAAAAEFI/lo4mffLXHcg/s1600/2014-0402-03.JPG" height="320" width="270" /></a></div>
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As you can see the outer sole was done in garter stitch which worked out well for my repair plan.<br />
I grabbed 2 yarns from the junk stash and picked up the toe stitches with a row of singe crochet. Once I got to the end I grabbed the first stitch of the next row on the sole with my turning single crochet. Now, SC back across the first SC row. Turn an this this row I grabbed the purl loop of the sole with each SC across. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DwJvEWrYPmw/U0rxDomB6rI/AAAAAAAAEFQ/pBVdT3nuric/s1600/2014-0402-02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DwJvEWrYPmw/U0rxDomB6rI/AAAAAAAAEFQ/pBVdT3nuric/s1600/2014-0402-02.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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I repeated this 2 rows until I got well past the hole and for my final "grab" row I did a slip stitch and grab instead of SC so the end row wouldn't stick up. I forgot to take a picture when I finished so here's one after its been worn for a week. The fix worked out well.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bCoD4cIh42s/U0rxmnhPMAI/AAAAAAAAEFY/ZGWtploAN10/s1600/2014-0413-01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bCoD4cIh42s/U0rxmnhPMAI/AAAAAAAAEFY/ZGWtploAN10/s1600/2014-0413-01.JPG" height="320" width="294" /></a></div>
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Chief still watches Jimmy Fallon every night.<br />
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<em>March 20th</em></div>
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<em>April 2nd</em></div>
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I could have taken the same picture pretty much any night the past few weeks.</div>
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Bert in the meantime has been helping me with a special quilting project. I'm doing it using paper piecing so after the blocks are done the extra paper/material is trimmed off, That's Bert's favorite part.</div>
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He also still likes to hang out in the kitty cottage when we're in watching TV.</div>
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So that's been our last couple weeks - work, quilting, knitting and getting ready to do some yard work when the grass dries out a bit from all our snow. This weekend was officially snow-out in my entire yard. Let's hope we don't get any more this year!!</div>
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Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-47367106628515534752014-03-21T12:35:00.001-05:002014-03-21T12:36:39.739-05:00Week OffI had the week off and totally enjoyed letting my body find its own timing. Not getting up because an alarm goes off is such a delight! The first few days Bert decided he needed to be my alarm but we got better about that and he just tries to wake me up for a minute (instead of 10 minutes of kitty whining) and settles down again.<br />
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We stayed up late watching whatever we wanted and didn't worry about having to get up in the morning. Not to say I don't usually stay up late but its nice to not think about how tired I'll be the next morning!<br />
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Bert has always liked Craig Ferguson and will even pet the TV screen but I think Chief has a new bromance started. Chief has recently discovered Jimmy Fallon (thanks to Fallon now being on at an early time). The boys are happy because they don't have to fight over who is going to be on late night - both shows are on different times.<br />
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But the boys have been tired because they stay up late watching TV so they end up having to take extra naps. (yeah, that's the real reason and it has nothing to do with the fact that cats sleep 22 hours a day). And- yes- the afghan they're sleeping on is their's and is THAT full of cat hair!<br />
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This week has had knitting, quilting, cleaning, dining with friends and watching some quilting shows on the iPad. Seems Bert wanted to watch too. Part way through one of the shows a little head popped up from behind the iPad.<br />
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But also getting some business taken care of including getting a new cable box (old one died Sunday) and getting a new garage door opener installed.<br />
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Both fix-it guys were very professional, gave me tight time frames that they would be arriving at and actually showed up at that time. They arrived within 30 minutes of each other and left about 5 minutes apart. It couldn't have been an easier situation. Now I've got a new cable box and remote plus he figured out a few other problems on my line I didn't know I had and fixed those. I also ended up buying a better garage door opener than I realized- the installer was impressed with it. It has all sorts of extra features on it. When I open the house door to the garage a sensor turns on the lights and some other cool things. I'm a happy camper.<br />
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Now, one work week day left to get a few business things done. It's been a good week! Unfortunately, every time I take a week off and stay home it gets just that much harder to return to work. <br />
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Oh - almost forgot. I have the give a shout out to Lean Cuisine. I eat frozen meals because they're easier for a single person and have a defined calorie count But I don't eat too many that I really enjoy the flavor. Most are just acceptable and that's it. However, Lean Cuisine has a pizza that microwaves well and has a great flavor. It's the Wood Fire Style BBQ Recipe Chicken Pizza. They've got some other meals that are pretty good but the pizza really rocks it and its only 340 calories!Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-965032557545696672014-03-08T14:28:00.002-06:002014-03-08T14:28:25.088-06:00RIP Remote ControlThis winter just seems to go on forever and has caused me more than one problem. With it, every little problem seems to be that much bigger. The latest house malfunction is one I've been expecting for a long time but I was hoping I'd make it to spring and deal with it then. Back in about 1852 my Dad bought a garage door opener. Maybe not that long ago but it is definitely headed toward the antique time of life. When I bought the house in 2006 (was it really that long ago!?!) I realized the remote for the opener was on its last legs. The button on the remote was taped on it looking pretty sad. When I checked with a garage door place they said this remote was SO old it couldn't be replaced. This style just wasn't made anymore. I kept it taped and babied it figured some day the opener itself would die and then I'd replace it all. <br />
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About a month ago the button started needed extra prodding to get it to signal the opener. I really hoped it would survive till spring but about a week ago the remote died. I took it apart and cleaned it, check the circuit board, changed the battery, did everything I could think of but - that puppy is dead. The opener works fine but leaping out of the car to run in the house, go into the garage, open the door and then back into the car to drive into the garage while it's -30F wind chill is not a fun thing to do! I can't used the side door of the garage because its so piled up with snow that has settled and really frozen in place so its thru the front door of the house, stomping off the snow before walking across the carpet and dealing with it. <br />
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Guess its time for a new opener but I didn't want to make someone install it in the middle of a deep freeze! Now that it looks like were heading toward above freezing weather for a while I can go opener shopping. At least it will be cheaper than paying for 7 years of water in in month!<br />
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What all this extra running in and out to go anywhere means is I plan my trips carefully because ti just not convenient (man I'm spoiled! my last house didn't even have a garage!) Back to the story. Because I don't go out at the drop of a hat, I've been doing more around the house. This morning I decided to play with some fabric I bought on a shop hop. It's 5 Christmas fat quarters and I wanted to do something quick so I made a pillow case top to cover one of the couch pillows.<br />
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Time to play the ever fun game - What did Jill do Wrong?<br />
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I was going for an interwoven ribbon look. Check out the lower right. Everything is in the right place based on my striped order but - because I didn't put the right ribbon going downward on the left and the gold print on the right, the interwoven part of the lower right doesn't look interwove. If I decide to fix this it means ripping out the lower half or the right half of everything so I can switch the order of one of the sets of red/gold ribbons. </div>
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It took me a while to notice this but now that I've seen it I have a feeling this will bug me forever unless I fix it. Guess I have some hand work to do - rip-rip-rip.</div>
Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-53275906748058134752014-03-02T16:27:00.000-06:002014-03-03T00:51:59.680-06:00Snails eating tomatoesI got some specially treated fabric to be able to print pictures on so I can add some pics of my sister-in-law on a memory quilt for my brother. Because I wasn't sure how the fabric would work I decided to get help from our receptionist. She has twin 6 year old girls who like to draw. I asked her to get the girls to draw a bright picture each and I was going to "do something with them". Didn't tell them what because surprises are fun!<br />
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So they each went into a different room and drew. When I got the pictures they made me laugh. They are bright and fun and oddly the same. Both have a rainbow snail eating a tomato. Butterfly - sun - flowers and, well they're different but you can tell these two little girls think the same. The snails even have the same back end.<br />
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So, I took these wonderful pictures and ran them through the scanner and printed them on the special fabric. This <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blumenthal-Lansing-Crafters-100-Percent-100-Inch/dp/B000F3FT3K/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1393798933&sr=8-2&keywords=blumenthal+fabric" target="_blank">fabric from Blumenthal</a> is pretreated and has a paper back. You print as normal, let dry 15 minutes and then rinse in water for 30 seconds to get rid of the extra ink. After that let dry and press. You now have nice quilt weight cotton fabric with a unique design on it.</div>
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I made the pillow simple. Just 16x16 squares with an opening in the back to insert a pillow form. Their bedroom is yellow and purple and I wanted the pillow to be similar but not identical so I switched up the colors. They're not in pillow forms yet but even as they are, I think they turned out nice and the girls should be surprised.</div>
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One thing I did learn is the printing is not as bright and not quite true to color so I'll have to remember that when I get ready to print for my sister-in-law's memory quilt.</div>
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Now they can quit asking their Mom EVERY NIGHT when they get their surprise!</div>
Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-61926684377718405142014-03-01T11:32:00.001-06:002014-03-01T11:32:58.634-06:00A Tale of Two McDonaldsThis is a tale of customer service good and customer service bad. I pay attention to customer service for two reasons. First, I'm a customer and I matter. I decide where to spend my money and part of the decision is customer service. If someone has something I want but they have terrible service I go somewhere else. If someone has great service I will go out of the way to go there again. Second, part of my job is teaching all our new hires which includes teaching our company's philosophy on customer service. I want to be sure our people get a good start in their careers with our company and I will use stories like the following as an example of good and bad.<br />
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So, here's the story. <br />
McDonalds #1. The McDonalds near my house used to get my business frequently in the morning as I'd drive thru and get a sandwich and large ice tea. But they started charging more for the tea and sandwiches then other McDs and made frequent mistakes so I quit going there and sent an email to corporate letting them know I felt the drive thru service was lacking. After a while I decided to give them a try again and it was OK for a while then mistakes started happening again. Yesterday I ordered the bagel with bacon,egg,cheese to treat myself. It's the more expensive sandwich. I should note I don't get their sausage ever because its greasy and salty and doesn't get along well with my gut. So, back to the story. After I got on the road and part way to work I opened the sandwich to find the least expensive sandwich - an egg mcmuffin with sausage. <br />
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So, when I got to work I decided to send a nicely worded email to corporate saying how my service was lacking and I ended up not only paying for the expensive sandwich but got one that I couldn't eat all of (dumped the sausage). I not only wanted to let them know but also (secretly) figured they'd send me a coupon or something to make up for the money I paid them without get what I paid for.<br />
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I got a quick "we got your email" response and then today I got an email basically saying they talked to the store immediately and were sorry about my experience, etc but nothing about compensating me for the money I spent without getting what I wanted. No coupon, no nothing. Makes me feel cheated probably because I was!<br />
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McDonalds #2. The McDonalds near work. I stop by this one about once a year. I was heading toward a meeting and didn't have time for lunch so I did the drive thru to get ice tea and a wrap to eat in the car on the way. They took a little while (but really not very long) to get the wrap to me and to thank me for being patience gave me a $1.00 coupon for my next visit. Everything was good. The wrap well made and tasty but they wanted me to know that they valued my business and were sorry about the extra 2 minutes it took.<br />
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Now - which McDonalds would you rather go to? Customer Service is a really important thing and until people in the service industries really figure this out the only way we can show them is by thanking people for their good service with out business and by telling them we appreciate their hard work.<br />
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As for the McDs by my house. They won't be seeing me for quite a while. Why should I pay for something I don't get!Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-13662614120033512542014-02-07T20:37:00.002-06:002014-02-07T20:45:49.298-06:00SWS - Small Winter SwapThe group that I help moderate on Ravelry and another group decided to do a winter swap. We called is SWS or Small Winter Swap. The plan was ladies would make a mug rug or dish cloth or something small that would fit in an envelope for someone in the other group. The project bag I showed in the last post was part of my package to the lady I was given.<br />
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My package came this week and I waited a couple days to open it because I had a really crummy start to the week and didn't want the package to get lost in my crummy feelings. So, when I did open the package it was a treat. Nobody in the group sent just a dishcloth and nobody took the fit into an envelope to mean a regular #10 envelope. Everyone out did themselves spoiling the other group and it made the winter a little less bleak.<br />
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It took several tries to get a picture of my goodies because the sound of plastic crinkling can raise the dead (or at least 2 kitties) around here! Here's just a couple of the pictures.<br />
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Weird - I computer decided to post this without any help from me so let's try adding some more and see what happens.....</div>
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The package was a treat as I said because I had a crummy week. Monday morning I opened my utility bill for the quarter from the city only to see a $1000 balance instead of the usual $200 or so! WHAT!?!? It showed my usual water usage for 3 months is under 6K gallons but last quarter was 168K. That's 7 years worth of water! HOLY COW!!!</div>
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I called the city and we set up a guy to come out the next morning to see what was going on. My hope was the digital readaer had a bad chip or something. No such luck. The toilet in the bathroom in the basement that I haven't used for a couple years got bad rubber seals in the tank (probably from non-use) and since Nov 21 at 7:41pm (yes, they can trance it back that accurate) it has been leaking a boatload of water. I literally threw all that money down the toilet. I never heard it because its in the back part of the basement behind a couple wal;s and next to the furnance which makes its own noise. Lesson learned - all homeowners need to walk around their house at least every couple weeks to those areas they don't normally use just to check things out!</div>
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Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-84682931799096804852014-01-26T11:05:00.001-06:002014-01-26T11:05:57.157-06:00Project BagsI know, 2 posts on 2 days. Could it be I'm actually returning to the land of the living from my self imposed lung ick seclusion? <br />
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I have a finished project to show (finally!) Last summer I made a project bag for a friend that I designed based off a bag another friend got from an Asian market. The bag wasn't designed for a knitting project bag but - we knitters take what we can to use for our obsession. So, the summer bag was a little too big to be able to make from 2 fat quarters and the rings I used on the top were a little too heavy.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QpKkSmN3S8M/UuU9PnXx1QI/AAAAAAAAD8s/_lij0__hh1M/s1600/2013-0624-02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QpKkSmN3S8M/UuU9PnXx1QI/AAAAAAAAD8s/_lij0__hh1M/s1600/2013-0624-02.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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I decided to give the bag another try and made it an inch smaller on each side and made the side top side loops inside of using rings. I think it turned out pretty good. Hope the person getting it likes it.</div>
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See the loops at the sides - the front long loop is brought through each of the side (and back) loops and becomes the handle.</div>
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The front of the bag has a bit of knitting related embroidery from a design by <a href="http://www.emblibrary.com/el/default.aspx" target="_blank">Embroidery Library</a>. They're a local company that sells wonderful (and great priced) embroidery designs on the web. They have frequent sales and this design I picked up for only $1 during one of the sales!</div>
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I liked the way this bag turned out and I think I see more of them in my future. I may even get around to writing up the design. </div>
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Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-92214354200636353852014-01-25T11:16:00.001-06:002014-01-25T11:16:49.673-06:00All Creatures Great and SmallI haven't posted since Christmas for a couple reasons, the biggest being an attack of the luck ick. It's my term for the nasty bout of bronchitis I get every few years. This year it came on Sunday before New Year's and I'm still trying to get back to normal. I "never" call in sick but this time I left work early New Year's eve and pretty much slept or coughed for a week. Naturally the day I decided to try to rejoin the world was the coldest day in a couple decades - timing is everything.<br />
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But, enough about crummy health. Because of it I really haven't done anything worth blogging about. So that's why the silence. Until today. Today is a day worthy of breaking the silence because today is my big boy's birthday.<br />
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12 years ago Chief came into this world and 3 months after that he changed my world. I've mention how he got his name before but for his birthday I'll repeat it. I've always named my critters for family members. Jessie was my initials - JC. Jamie was after my brother Jim. (I use family names but not a straight copy of the name). Chief got his name the first night I got him. I brought him over to my folks house and he played with Dad on the floor and then crawled up on Mom's lap and fell asleep. We were talking about names and during this I said he had all of us wrapped around his little paw and Dad said it was just like the Chief. Grandpa was a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy and when he said to do something - everyone jumped. So with that, the new little bundle of fur was named after Grandpa. To this day he still has me wrapped around his (not so) little paw and he is the Chief.<br />
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Chief's first night</div>
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He loved to be with me so much I finally hunted up my old arm sling so he could hang out with me while I worked on the computer.</div>
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Like all cats he loves boxes of all sizes</div>
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Chief is great helping me check out the fit of preemie hats and modeling other knit items</div>
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He is also willing to try and learn to knit (or at least pretend to learn)</div>
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But his best thing is the constant attention and love. Chief is my buddy like no other cat I've ever had.</div>
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Happy Birthday Big Boy - here's hoping for many, many more!!</div>
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<span class="mw-poem-indented" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em;"><i>All things bright and beautiful,</i></span><i><br /></i> <span class="mw-poem-indented" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em;"><i>All creatures great and small,</i></span><br /><span class="mw-poem-indented" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em;"><i>All things wise and wonderful,</i></span><br /><span class="mw-poem-indented" style="display: inline-block; margin-left: 1em;"><i>The Lord God made them all.</i></span></div>
Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-73159471861459570622013-12-26T15:10:00.001-06:002013-12-26T15:10:26.460-06:00Christmas is for familyThis year Christmas was for family is a big way. We had family come from all over - LA, Arizona, Chicago and here in the Twin Cities. This is the first time all 6 cousins have been together for Christmas since the 70s!! But, it almost didn't happen. My brother missed his place yesterday and had to wait another 3 hours to get a flight out of LA and head to Minnesota. Finally he made it here and we all spent the evening together catching up on things. The Chicago part of the family was not going to be here but one cousin insisted on them staying at her house so the group was complete.<br />
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There was playing with new toys and learning to be a princess........<br />
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There was a little bit of Mom cuddle time.....</div>
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There were several family pictures taken with different generations including the 2nd cousins.....</div>
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But not all the pictures turned out the way we expected them to. Sometimes sisters have jokes about the silliest things that other people don't understand! (unless you're their Mom)</div>
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The day ended with a little Grandma story time before bed. </div>
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All in all Christmas was a great day for being together with family!</div>
Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-73637791346004925002013-11-23T15:57:00.001-06:002013-11-23T15:57:21.549-06:00This is just a testI just downloaded the Blogger apps on my iPad so I decided to try posting to see how it goes. In the meantime, Bert has been helping with quilting.<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-w2usfNhoBzI/UpEkv335jKI/AAAAAAAAD6k/pa75jI3d4GU/s640/blogger-image-1950275568.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-w2usfNhoBzI/UpEkv335jKI/AAAAAAAAD6k/pa75jI3d4GU/s640/blogger-image-1950275568.jpg"></a></div>Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-84256857843428585872013-11-11T15:23:00.001-06:002013-11-11T15:23:28.673-06:00Thank You whoever you areEvery Veteran's Day I like to post about the family's Navy history. Grandpa was a Chief Petty Officer and had originally joined the Navy in time to be part of the shore patrol just after the great San Francisco earthquake in 1906. He was in China, Panama, Japan, his ship brought supplies to Hawaii just after Pearl Harbor. His tour of duty was long and amazing with time at home to own a gorcery store, run for councilman and spend tie with his family. <br />
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His son, my Uncle, joined at the beginning of WWII and served throughout the war and then again for Korea. This year my dear, sweet Uncle left us after living over 90 years. It was sad to think of the last of this amazing group leaving us but what a great legacy they left.<br />
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My "part" of this legacy was Dad. He also joined at the beginning of WWII and again for Korea. He served on the same ship as my Uncle and ended up being brought home with my uncle where he met Mom and, well, you can figure out the rest.<br />
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There were other veteran's in the family - Dad's brother in law on the other side was also on the ship; my cousins served in Viet Nam; a cousin's husband was in the Navy reserve; Dad's father was in the Army. So many family members heard their nation's call and answered.<br />
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I'm proud of every one of them and I'm thrilled to know they helped us have a free country where we can rejoice on our freedoms or complain about anything and everything without fear of the government. We can decide what we want to become and try to attain it. We DO have the freedom to pursue happiness which isn't there for many people around the world. So, all the members of my family and everyone else's family - THANK YOU!!!!<br />
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Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-14801065864505565312013-11-01T18:54:00.001-05:002013-11-01T18:54:23.954-05:00Confessions of a Wrong-handed CrocheterOnce upon a time there was a knitter. She was what was called a thrower, using the right hand to hold the yarn and throw it over the needles to knit. One day she went to college and met another crafty student. They both decided to learn to crochet and went to Ben Franklin to buy yarn, crochet hooks and a book on how-to. The book they bought only showed pictures of the hook and yarn so the knitter did what she knew best. She held the yarn in her right hand and threw it over the crochet hook.<br />
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As time passed the knitter found out she was supposed to hold the yarn in her left hand. She didn't want other crocheters to think she was doing it wrong so she tried to learn the "right way". It just didn't work. So, the knitter only crocheted in private, away from other people so they wouldn't see her and her wrong way. She made beautiful things. She even taught crocheting which worked well because she had to crochet so slow the right way her students could see exactly what they needed to do.<br />
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More time passed. One day the knitter met another right handed knitter who complained about not being able to learn how to crochet. The knitter got brave and told her about the way she crocheted. Intrigued, the other knitter asked for a lesson. There was joy in the other knitters heart because suddenly she could crochet. This made our knitter happy and a bit brave. She started to crochet in public occasionally and ended up teaching throwing knitters to crochet with their right hand - just like they knit. Many were happy and many finally learned how to crochet.<br />
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And they all lived happily ever after. But this isn't the end.<br />
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I've decided its time to admit I don't crochet the way the books tell you to crochet. I'm happy with my own method, others I've taught are happy to be finally crocheting and maybe by telling this silly little story I can let other throwers who can't crochet know that there is hope. Hold the yarn in your right hand just like you knit. Hold the project in your left hand. Give it a try.<br />
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Watch here and I'll try to get some pictures up to show you how I crochet.<br />
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Just a few samples of what crocheting the wrong way can make.<br />
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Rust Goes Green - my design that's been downloaded almost 10,000 times so far</div>
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Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5750733163350939094.post-65080528202377734122013-10-13T23:06:00.001-05:002013-10-13T23:06:24.598-05:00Fall Colors<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Sometimes I'm so busy looking for fall colors and sights by going out driving that I forget to look in my own back yard and enjoy the sights right here. Every year my maple tree gives off the best colors.</div>
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Top that off with some final bright greens and some late fall flowers and I have a pretty nice view from my windows.<br />
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This weekend was the Quilt show of my guild (Women of the West). It's a medium sized guild that does a show every other year. There were many quilts including some challenges. This year's special theme was Stars. For some reason I didn't take any pictures except for 1 of the special speaker. Gudrun Erla of <a href="http://www.gequiltdesigns.com/about-ge-designs.aspx">GE Quilt Designs</a>. She spoke for over an hour about her quilt designs and books. She is best known for quick, quilt as you go designs. Several of her designs have a very Scandinavian feel which makes sense because she is originally from Iceland.<br />
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Going to quilt shows or knitting shows is always such a treat. Getting to see the creativity of fellow crafters always recharges my creative battery. If I knit, crochet, quilt or whatever craft I'm currently into but spend no time with other people sharing this love, I tend to lose my creativity. Or as many say - lose my mojo. But- get my backside off the chair and into a room with other people of my interests and its like going to a revival meeting. After spending a few hours at the guild show I came home and worked some more on my Shoo Fly quilt. It WILL be done for my guest bedroom by Christmas when my brother comes home for a visit. </div>
Jillsknithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15694460110573604463noreply@blogger.com0