Fall into Fall Giveaway

Its the Fall Into Fall Quilters Blog Giveaway! Follow the link to Debi's blog to read all about it and see the other participating giveaway-ers. I'm sure that's not a word but that link is where you'll find links to all the bloggers who are hosting a giveaway. If you're a blogger and would like to be part of the giveaway, join the rest of us and sign up too.

You'll have to wait until October 1 to enter but I'll be giving you hints about what my prize might be and establishing a few rules too. The drawing will be October 15. Why does that sound so far away but yet I know its just around the corner?!?

The 5300 mile wedding trip

The newlyweds: our son and his wife -

Brendan & Megan Vinson

married September 11, 2010

Nevada City, California

Our daughter, Micaela, is the middle bridesmaid.

... and now for just a few of our trip photos!

We decided to drive to California for the wedding and see some of the national parks and sites that we've always wanted to see. We were also trying to transport 10 pounds of frozen BBQ Brisket for the rehearsal dinner. If anyone needs tips on how to keep meat frozen for 10 days on a road trip, I can help you!

Hint: dry ice and the right way to pack the meat.

Okay, so this isn't a national park but we stopped to see Carhenge out in the middle of a pasture near Alliance, Nebraska. We'd heard about this place and when we saw the sign for it, decided to stop in.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial
We took an all day bus tour that included Mt. Rushmore and the area. I was so glad neither my husband nor I were driving the road through the Needles Eye Tunnel! I'd recommend the bus tour if you're planning a trip to the area.
We also saw the Crazy Horse Memorial on the tour.

Right before we left, we realized we'd need more dry ice to keep the brisket frozen. Its readily available in our area at grocery stores and Wal-Mart so after many phone calls and starting to panic, we were surprised to find that its only available at one grocery store in Rapid City, South Dakota. If you're going to use dry ice, make sure you know where to find it before you leave home!

We made a short stop to see the Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming, established in 1906.

Here's Old Faithful Geyser erupting in Yellowstone National Park. We took the "Yellowstone in a Day" tour to get a good overview of the park and let someone else do the driving and parking. It was Labor Day weekend and the park was busy.

This is a beautiful waterfall at Yellowstone but unfortunately I can't remember if its the Lower Falls or the Upper Falls! Can anyone help me on this? I think its the Lower Falls.

This was the view from our Gardiner, Montana hotel room one morning - snow on the mountains! At 7 AM the morning we left Yellowstone, Sept. 7, our SUV's thermometer registered 16 degrees. Brrrr.

While we were at Yellowstone, we also took a short trip south to the Grand Teton National Park. Wish we could have explored more of this park but we ran out of time and began the final leg of the drive to California for the wedding. We stopped for a quick look at the Utah Salt Flats and were on our way again.

For those of you wondering, the BBQ brisket arrived in California frozen hard. I slowly thawed it, reheated it in a crockpot and it was enjoyed by the rehearsal dinner guests.

After the wedding, we drove to Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park in California. This is the General Grant tree, the third largest tree in the world.

This photo is about where we noticed the SUV's brakes were overheating! If any of you have driven through Sequoia National Park, you may agree with me that some of the roads twist and turn a bit, especially for someone used to driving flat straight roads! The road was under construction and traffic was only let through on the hour so we parked and let the brakes cool. This was the beautiful view from our car while we waited to be allowed to drive on.

The next day we drove on to the Las Vegas, Nevada area where we saw the Hoover Dam. As you drive in, cars are stopped for a security check and we were wondering what the officers would think of the blanket draped load of wedding presents in the cargo area of our rental SUV. Apparently we have honest faces because after a few questions, we were allowed in.

After staying at a "luxury hotel" for the night, our next national park was Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. By now, both my husband and I were tired so we just took a 2 hour driving/short walk tour of the park. This is a photo of the Delicate Arch.

We made it to the Colorado National Monument before my husband said, "I'm done travelling." Spent two more days in Denver before driving home, 18 days and about 5300 miles on the road.

I'm definitely looking forward to some quilting time soon but this week looks a little full so I may not get to blog or sew much. Check back again soon!

Be right back!

The bridesmaid dress is done and so is my blouse! I'll post a photo later so you can all to see what I've been doing lately. I think they turned out fairly well for not having sewn clothing in years. Those 5/8" seams sure look huge compared to a quilt's 1/4" seam!

My husband and I will be travelling to the wedding in a few days so a blogging break is in order. See you soon, Mayleen

Sewing project update

Just an update on my sewing projects - my daughter's bridesmaid dress and my blouse. I've sewn in the invisible zipper, altered the side seams numerous times, replaced the bodice because of a pulled thread in the fabric and basted in the chiffon sleeves twice but now I'm at a standstill because my daughter has come down with the flu! I still need to line the dress and do a rolled hem (another first).

The dress is still not fitting as well as I'd like but we've decided to not push it further. My sewing rule is that I will take apart things only three times and after that leave it. I find that after that many times of picking seams apart, the fabric is deteriorating and the results of further picking out and resewing will usually not improve.

I needed a lot of M&Ms this past week! You will notice they are not in Roy G Biv order. When stressful times arise, I'm not too concerned with the color wheel! I shouldn't be eating all those M&Ms if I want to fit into my blouse so a prayer request for me - please pray that God will give me the wisdom and skill to finish the bridesmaid dress and that it will fit well and look good.

So not being able to sew any further on my daughter's bridesmaid dress until she feels better, I've been working on my blouse. I decided to make it in the matte side of a teal colored polyester Charmeuse fabric and save the bright pink fabric for another project. This fabric is not normally one I would choose because I don't like shiny fabrics and it can be difficult to sew. A challenge but so far, so good.

Vogue classified this pattern as "Easy" and perhaps it would have been if I hadn't altered the size and lined it. Click on the link to see the blouse view I'm making with the draped front and no collar. After I sew on the front facing, I'll be ready to insert the 3/4 length sleeves. Finally, the hem treatment and some handwork, a good going over and a final pressing. I will probably need another full day of sewing with no interruptions before its finished so that means at least two normal days around here!

I am trying to read a few blogs every day but am unfortunately, not able to keep up on answering everyone's comments. I have only a week and a half to finish the dress and blouse so am fully focused on those two projects.

Looking forward very much to sewing mostly straight lines on cotton fabrics! Be back to quilting soon, Mayleen

Chiffon - A word that strikes terror into a quilter's heart

I know some of you are wondering what I am doing since I haven't posted anything for days! Well, I'm still working on my daughter's bridesmaid dress and trying to find something for me to wear to the wedding.

The bridesmaid dress will be made of wine colored satin with chiffon sleeves and belt of the same color. Definitely not fabrics I'm used to sewing or even enjoy sewing! I am doing OK with the satin but the chiffon ... oh my. Anyone who has sewn chiffon have any good tips? I had to buy more of it today because I made a mistake on the belt. Tomorrow is another day and I've already got plans how to not make the same mistake.

Meanwhile, I've given up on finding something ready made for me to wear and today I purchased a pattern and fabric for a dressy blouse. Its been a really long time since I've sewn a Vogue pattern and we shall see how "Easy" it really is!

I'm not convinced I picked the right fabric though. I wanted something that didn't clash with the wedding colors (wine and black) and complimented my gray hair and complexion. This shouldn't surprise me but I bought my favorite color - a bright pink crepe fabric for the blouse. Not so sure that it really goes with the wine color so I'm still open to other possibilities.

A close second choice was a green chiffon print but as soon as I checked the fabric content on the end of the bolt and saw the "C" word, I put it back on the shelf! Need something a little less stressful than that.

If you e-mailed me and I haven't responded its because I'm trying to finish the bridesmaid dress and my blouse. Hopefully, I will be able to post photos of them soon. You probably have no idea how much I'm looking forward to sewing with 100% cotton fabrics again!

Its scary in there ...

... and that's why the door is closed to my sewing room!

I took the Process Pledge so I'll tell you its a messy process in there with three projects + going at the same time! There are selvages every where, strips in a neat stack (at this point) and clamshells divided by color. There's also fabric that's waiting to be cut into strips and then clamshells. Trying to be organized but its a challenge for other family members to find the ironing board!

However, it is not this bad! This "100 Ways to Hide Your Stash" You-Tube video is by Cathy Miller, the Singing Quilter. At least my selvages and fabric are not falling out of the microwave!

This afternoon, I added more confusion to the sewing room by making a large crazy quilt block for me to stitch on tomorrow at Threshing Days in Goessel. I'm doing a crazy quilt embroidery demonstration there.

I recently read an article about copyright issues for quilters in a McCalls Quilting magazine. Anyone else read it? If its correct, we will have to check with the quilt designer before we can post photos of our finished projects on our blogs. As I understand the article, before we can enter a quilt into a judged quilt show (for prize money), we would also have to get the designer's permission. I'm probably not being very clear but if you can find the magazine, read it.

To end this post on a happier note, look what's blooming in my flower bed! This spring, I dug up some orange daylilies at my mother's apartment to transplant into my flower bed. The others all bloomed orange much earlier but this pinkish purple one is just now blooming. Interesting that my mother never had daylilies this color.

I also accidentally brought home a white hibiscus plant and a blue morning glory plant which is starting to vine everywhere! Most people wouldn't get excited about morning glories since they're sometimes considered a weed but I've never been able to get them to grow until now. If I could only get hollyhocks to grow and bloom!

Getting Serious about the Stash

Last week was not so good on the sewing front. I got a few more spiderweb selvage quilt block units finished and a few more started. I'm not sure what happened but I didn't have much ambition to sew.

Toward the end of the week, I received a package of selvages from Barb which helped get me back in the mood so many thanks to Barb!

I've redoubled my efforts to sew down my stash and have decided to cut 2 1/2 inch strips from my older fabrics in an effort to use them up or at least reduce the number of them. So far, I've only made it through the tub of green fabrics.

I recently saw a picture of this scrappy bargello quilt and I think I'll use the strips to make it. I especially like this Christmas version and this one too! Plans could change though. I've never really done much in the way of strip sewing.


I've admired the lovely clamshells the ladies in the Clamshell Club are making and I've finally given in! As I cut strips, I put the fabric on the stack to await marking and cutting clamshells. I have a few marked already and will use my evenings to cut out the pieces. It will probably take me quite some time to get anywhere on the strip quilt and the clamshell quilt but I'm working toward them.

Below is a photo of my older fabric "stash". Not so pretty to look at! The majority of this fabric is 10-20 years old. I'm sharing the photo with you because I want you to hold me accountable! Use it or lose it is my motto. If I haven't used it by late winter next year, I plan to donate it to the Kansas MCC sale's Quilter's Corner.

This may not seem like a lot of fabric to some of you but its taking up space that I could use for my newer fabrics and my sewing room is not large. Confession - There's also fabric in the closet but some of it is more suitable for clothing or curtain construction. I'll deal with them another time.

I'm expecting the bridesmaid dress fabric to arrive anytime so probably not much quilting time for me for a few weeks. I'll pop in every now and then to let you know how things are going!