Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Updates and a Public Service Announcement

Linking in to Lee's anniversary edition of WIP Wednesday. Lots more things in progress than in any other state. . . . def my state of life these days it seems!

Made some headway on the tablerunner yesterday . . . Got two trees pieced, and I'm happy with how they're looking. I have two houses to go, and then I can piece the top together. I'm hoping to get the top pieced together by Friday so that I can get quilting before the weekend. Here's what I have so far:



Yes, my pictures sooooo clearly rot! I have to find a way to actually take pictures during the day so I can take them up close and actually capture the fabric! Everyone else's blogs look like commercials, with people running through fields with quilts flapping in the sunny breeze, children laughing, puppies frolicking, you get the general idea . . . .

The next step is to frame the trees in a bright fabric to set them against the natural linen I'll be using for the top fabric. I've been ambivalent about whether to frame the trees and houses in color (like I have with the house), but I think they can use the extra color. Still not sure though . . . whaddya think?? I guess it would help to see the design? Sigh. I'll get back to that.

On other projects, have just gotten the Ugly Duckling Lizzy House fabric I've been itching for for ages (gotta love Etsy!), and am going to make a Keyka Lou "easy" envelope clutch. I'm trusting that "easy" means "easy." It doesn't have zippers, so for now I can avoid my phobia, although Susan took the jump today and did an amazing job on her pouches, so I guess I'm going to have to pull up the big girl panties and give it a go one of these days!

Okay, now for the public service announcement: just about three years ago I began having problems with my gas furnace in my rented home in PA. The pilot light kept going out. My lovely landlord (and I really mean that!) kept coming over to relight the pilot light, but it kept going out. Strangely, my migraine headaches (which I've always had) kept getting worse, and I kept getting sleepier and harder to wake up (but I've honestly always been hard to wake up as everyone in my life will tell you!). But then, my carbon monoxide detector went off. The fire department came to my house and discovered that the carbon monoxide in my home was at life threatening levels (because I had bought the cheapest type of CO detector, and it only went off after a week or more of CO exposure). All this to say, if you have gas or oil heat, go to your nearest hardware store and purchase a well-made, top-of-the-line carbon monoxide detector with a digital display (that shows all CO levels above zero). I could have died from CO poisoning, and I still live with serious consequences from exposure to this invisible, odorless gas.

Alright, you may now resume your previously scheduled quilting and crafty blog reading!

Oops! I totally forgot!! Guess what I found at the front door today!


I ordered this on Etsy from Daniel Ahn. It's from Korea, and I couldn't find it anywhere else. Yup, dogs dogs dogs! I may have to devote an entire post to the fabric on the right, because when you open it up it's just riotously wild and huge. It has secret Christmas gifts written all over it!

36 comments:

  1. I love the trees!! Are they paper pieced?

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  2. Thanks! Yes, they are. I crazily decided to teach myself paper piecing as part of my "learn to quilt" effort. Not sure why I started with paper piecing--steep curve, but I'm finally conquering the monsters!

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  3. i am so glad you had a CO2 detector and able to make head way on your tablerunner. You offer us a good reminder to check our homes.

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  4. Yikes! The CO2 detector story is frightening, but I'm glad you caught it. I hope the lingering effects go away and that you recover from your exposure. We do need to get ours--I'm putting it on the list to do this weekend.

    I love the Christmas houses and agree with you on bordering them to bring in some bright colors--won't they coordinate with the houses that way? Thanks for your comment on my blog--

    Elizabeth E
    occasionalpiece.wordpress.com

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  5. Love the houses! So unique! Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting on the Homemade Stockings!

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  6. I love all Keyka Lou patterns, & the envelope clutch was the first of her's I ever tried. It's definitely an easy one! And don't be afraid of zippers!

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  7. Love love love that dog fabric. Have to get some of that.

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  8. I've got a tutorial for inserting zippers, if you're interested. :)

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  9. Jodi over at Pleasant-Home has some great tips on taking good photos!
    http://www.pleasant-home.com/2011/02/blogging-tips-more-photo-tips.html
    You might find this link handy!

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  10. Your trees are great! I can't wait to see it finished. :)

    Mary
    http://www.quiltgenius.com

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  11. Your trees are adorable! I think I like them with just the white around them... maybe you could add color with some hand quilting? :)

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  12. Nice work on the trees..thank you for stopping by to comment on my quilt progress...I appreciate it..

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  13. I am in love with those trees! And who says being a quilter means you also have to be a professional photographer? Thanks for the PSA, we have gas heat and a gas stove in our house, with 4 young children. I'm going to have to look into the CO detector. I never even thought about it!

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  14. Wow! Scary story about the carbon monoxide poisoning! Thanks for the reminder. I have no idea what kind of detector we have, I even think our smoke detectors might be CO monitors also... but I will check with the hubby tonight. I love your tree blocks! I can't help with the color or no color dilemma.. sorry! And that dog fabric is ADORABLE!

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  15. I love the trees and I love that they're all slightly different. I think they'll look great with colorful borders set into linen. What a fun holiday project!

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  16. Your tree block are so cute and that dog fabric from Korea... Adorable!

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  17. Great trees! Borders sound like a fun idea, too. I love Lizzy House fabric so I'm sure the clutch will turn out fabulous! Can't wait to see!

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  18. love your trees, they are so festive :) & thanks for the public service announcement - my CO detectors are fairly cheap, I had no idea it could take so much exposure before they would go off. So glad yours finally did their job for you. And when you take the plunge, I'm sure you will do fine with a zipper. They are a bit tricky but not too bad :)

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  19. Love your tree blocks, they are really cute, as is the dog fabric.
    Wow you were lucky with the CO2, that's seriously scary.

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  20. I love those trees, they are so darling!

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  21. Your table runner is fabulous! And yes CM poisoning is very scary, lucky you guys had a detector, or things could have been really bad!

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  22. That cookie on you header wants to make me start baking. We had a really bad smelling apartment for a few months - turned out it was a gas leak. Eeek.

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  23. I`m so behind with my tablerunner but I`m doing trees too and yours look lovely! BTW, don`t worry about how your blog looks - it`s great!

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  24. Love your new fabric! I really like the trees you pieced. Cant wait to see the finished runner!

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  25. I love how your table runner is progressing and those dog fabrics are adorable. Glad you got the furnace problem fixed, a good reminder for me to get mine tuned up.

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  26. Your Christmas tress are so cute. Dont worry about the pictures... It is difficult especially this time of year when it's so dark.

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  27. Love the dog fabrics - and I'm not even a dog person.

    Glad that you found out about the CO levels before anything happened - that's pretty scary.

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  28. Yikes! I hope you got that carbon monoxide problem taken care of! We bought this house in March and there was already a detector plugged in the kitchen. I was hoping it wasn't because they had problems before.

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  29. Your trees look fantastic... and goodness great catch with the CO level. Hope you are all ok. And I'm intrigued by that dog fabrics -- looks adorable!

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  30. The dog fabric looks great. I totally understand about pictures on other people's blogs. November in WI doesn't make for beautiful pictures here.

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  31. Lovely table runner! That will be a great addition to your holiday decorations when you're done. And thanks for the reminder about a CO2 detector. What a scary experience for you.

    Thanks for linking up to WIP Wednesday. : )

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  32. Super cute dog fabric! Love how your table runner is coming along.

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  33. I love the scrappy Christmas tree block you are working on!

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  34. Love those Christmas trees! So cute! Thanks for the PSA - that's so scary! Glad to hear that you are okay!

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