Karrin's Crazy World: July 2023

Sunday, July 30, 2023

Slow Sunday Stitching

It was another busy week. There is always prep work getting ready for community service workday at my house. I have to get all my sewing supplies off the kitchen and dining room tables. And clean the house. Wednesday was workday and this time my co-chair Cathy was on vacation, and apparently some of our other usual group of 6-7 was too. There were just 3 of us this time, but we got a number of quilt batting and binding cut ou9t, enough so that we have filled our bins again for pin basting day in a couple of weeks.

I have also spent this week working in the garden, and working on getting the stump of my poor 40+ year old camellia out. It looked liked this, and just seemed to be getting worse and worse, dropping all its leaves, and I took it down several weeks ago. It was probably 9 feet tall.

In removing the stump of the camellia, and the superficial roots, I found out why it died. When the gardeners who did my work last year broke up the soil, they actually cut most of the major roots. I have hardpan here, and it took me 4 days to dig a hole for the new plants I purchased. I would put water in the hole to soften it up, and it would still be there the next day. But I finally was able to dig one deep enough for a 2 gallon Dinner Plate Hibiscus.

I also planted a new camellia, and a gardenia. I also spent time hooking the drip irrigation back up. This area is in the shade most of the day, but gets the sun in the afternoon. I am hoping I am able to eventually have shade out here again so my begonias can again reside.

I went up to WalMart the other day to purchase some laundry detergent, and found that apparently Tide has to be locked up now. I don't use Tide, but another customer said people were stealing Tide and selling it.

We are still in the 90's this week. My poor hydrangeas are looking poorly.

I made an unusual discovery in part of my garden my amaryllis is about to bloom again!

The other thing I have been working on for 3 days this week was making birthday cards on my Cricut. I have 6 family birthdays in August, and I am trying to make everyone a card. I have made some pop-up cards and foiled cards. For some reason my Cricut hasn't been behaving, the stylus tool keeps popping out. I am having to cut things out 2-3 times to make all the components. I discovered late Saturday there is probably something wrong with my Cricut Design Space on my Laptop, the one on my iPad seems to be working. So I plan to get a new copy for my laptop.

My grandson Jaeger came over Friday night to help me do something and saw my Cricut on the table, and remarked I had a Cricut. Apparently he purchased a Cricut Explore 3 on Facebook Marketplace 3 weeks ago, and has been cutting out some things in iron-on vinyl and applying them to t-shirts. These are some of his designs.

When he went away to college I gave him a little sewing kit so he could sew on buttons etc. I told him boys should be able to do everything girls do. He bought a small sewing machine and actually hems up his jeans and Lacross pants.

This is Jaeger and his new truck.

I think that is it for this week.

What I will be working on for Slow Sunday Stitching this week is this secret project, which will be revealed in a couple of weeks.

I'll be linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching. Head on over and check out what everyone is up to.

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, July 24, 2023

Day Twelve of the Twelve Days of Christmas In July Blog Hop

Welcome to day 12 of Sarah's 12 Days of Christmas In July Blog Hop. Many thanks to Sarah for allowing me to participate.

Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love making gifts for my family, and I love baking cookies and making candy for my friends and family. I like to find things I can fill my family's stockings with.

One year I made mug rugs and bowl cozies for everyone. Recently Angie Padilla came out with a gnome mug rug. I love gnomes and grabbed the pattern. I belong to her club, so I got it for free, but you can purchase it here.

Recently I purchased some designs at Embroidery Designs.com and stitched out some tea towels. These will probably go in stockings this year. I have a few more to make.

I love the one that says "sometimes you just have to say Cluck It and walk away".

One year I made everyone a microwave potato bag. These work really well, especially if you are single or live alone and only need to cook 1 potato. The instructions can be found here at The Spruce Crafts.

Another thing I do every year is make my grandkids a new pillowcase, themed to something they have an interest in. I have heard that one of my grandsons will not use any but the ones I make. These are the ones I made last year.

My other favorite thing to do at Christmas is make cookies and candy. I recently found a recipe for Six Minute Caramels, by Easy Tried Recipes that you make in the microwave. I have made these multiple times and they are so easy and so good.

I found another recipe, Vanilla Cream Filled Caramels by One Sweet Mama, I haven't tried it yet, but it looks good.

Thanks for joining me on the 12th Day of the 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop. Let Sarah @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict know how much you appreciate her putting this hop together, and for the great quilt she has shared with us!

Thanks for stopping by

Saturday, July 22, 2023

Slow Sunday Stitching

It has been another busy week, and I am a bit tired out. A lot of it could be the 108 degree weather. It is still 100 degrees at 7:30 p.m on Saturday night.

Tuesday night was begonia meeting. Every meeting they buy a bunch of plants, they can be begonias, or other plants. This month there were a bunch of ferns and other things too. You can purchase tickets for $3.00 and wait till your number is called, and then you choose your plants. I bought 2 tickets this time. My first number was called about 2/3 of the way through and I got an OK plant. It is a begonia, and looks healthy.

My second number was called next to last and this was one of the ones left. I have no idea if it will survive till the next meeting.

Meanwhile most all of my begonias that I moved to the open ended shed are crispy critters due to our weather recently. I have been pretty discouraged this week because of that. We are supposed to be looking at begonias we can put in our show in September and I have few to chose from, mostly the ones in the house that haven't been attacked by the mealybugs.

Meanwhile there was Guild Meeting on Wednesday, and we received quite a few tops for Community Service this time, that we will cut batting and binding for on workday this Wednesday at my house.

The Picnic Party Challenge organized by Carol @Just Let Me Quilt was this week, and my day was here. I was having some difficulty getting the zipper in a quilted picnic bag. I worked the rest of the week, and I was able to get the zipper in, sew down all the bindings by hand. All I need to do now is attach the handle. I also plan to make napkins.

Another thing I have been doing this week is looking for shorts and sleeveless tops. I will be going to Disneyland in a couple of weeks with my family. I haven't bought new shorts for probably 30 years, and my old ones were cotton knit, baggy as I used to weigh a lot more. Plus if I put my cell phone in my pocket, it drags my shorts down. I also like longer shorts as I feel I have ugly legs. I had bilateral knee surgery when I was in my teens, plus numerous varicose veins. It has been hotter than Hades around here, and I really would like to get my legs tan before I go to Disneyland. I ordered some from Amazon, but sent them back as I didn't like the fabric or the way they looked. I also ordered some sleeveless tops, but wasn't pleased with those either and sent them back.

I have been to TJ Max, Ross, Goodwill, Kohls. Looked online at Old Navy, Pennys etc. A lot of the stores are selling these crop tops. I don't need my belly showing either. Saturday afternoon I went to a local thrift store and they had longer jean shorts that fit. They were marked $10 and $15. I got up to the front to check out, and they were both on sale and I got 2 pairs of shorts for $8!

Sarah @Confessions of a Fabric Addict has been having her 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop. Today is Day 10 of the hop. I will be posting on the 12th day, Tuesday.

What I will continue working on this week and for Slow Sunday Stitching is to continue hand quilting this baby quilt that was donated to our guild's Community Service. I finished to borders on two sides, and have 2 more.

I will be linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching. Check out what everyone has been up to.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Picnic Party Challenge, My Day

The Picnic Party Challenge started on Monday, hosted by the amazing Carol @Just Let Me Quilt. Many thanks to Carol for thinking up another fun challenge!

Carol's Challenge this time was to make something to use for a picnic, such as a quilt, basket, or tote. There have been some lovely projects in the previous days. If you haven't had a chance to see what everyone has come up with so far, the entire schedule is listed below.

When I heard of this challenge, I knew exactly what I was going to do. I bought these two fabrics back in the early 2000's and I always thought they looked like a table topper or picnic quilt. They have been sitting on top of a cabinet all these years, collecting dust, waiting to be made.

I used my Accuquilt, and Carpenter's Wheel die to cut out four blocks. I have no affiliation with Accuquilt, but I love their system, and especially how smoothly blocks go together.

The quilt measures about 50 inches square. This is going to be a birthday gift for my granddaughter Kyleigh. Her and her boyfriend are always going hiking or on other adventures and I thought it would be nice. I found this image on Etsy to make the label. I was going to put it on the front of the quilt, but couldn't decide how or where, so used it as a label.

Then last week I got to thinking about a Picnic in the Park bag I had seen on Pinterest, Patterns by Annie. I thought it would be a perfect addition to the picnic quilt. I ordered the pattern online, and Soft and Stable. But not a big enough piece of Soft and Stable, so went out last Friday and found more, plus the mesh and hardware I needed to complete the bag.

I was going along fine, sewing, quilting the pieces, binding the mesh compartments, and started putting it together. I had visions of finishing this for this challenge. Then the night before my day to post, I am trying to attach the top to the zipper. I have a dislike of doing zippers, and I tried to forget about that. This is a 40 inch zipper. I have it around the top of the unit, but apparently didn't divide it up evenly enough on the other side to attach it to the main bag. This is the back of the bag.

Inside top and front

I still need to attach the bottom too, but at least it doesn't involve a zipper. There is a sleeve to put a piece of cardboard or plastic in to make it sturdier..

I will get this finished up in the next day or two so it will be ready for Kyleigh's BD in August.

Be sure and visit the other bloggers below and leave a kind word!

July 17

July 18

Homespun Hannah's Blog

July 19

July 20

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, July 16, 2023

Picnic Party Challenge Starts Today

The Picnic Party Challenge starts today, hosted by the amazing Carol @Just Let Me Quilt.

Carol's Challenge this time was to make something to use for a picnic, such as a quilt, basket, or tote. Can't wait to see what everyone has come up with.

The line-up is listed below.

July 17

July 18

Homespun Hannah's Blog

July 19

July 20

Thanks for stopping by!

HQAL, Slow Sunday Stitching

It was another fun-filled week. I did get a chance earlier in the week to work on my Picnic Party challenge project which is hosted by Carol @Just Let Me Quilt . I also got some things done for Christmas in July Blog Hop by Sarah @Confessions of a Fabric Addict . Sarah is having a quilt along right now.

We had Community Service Basting Day on Wednesday. The rest of the week I have been trying to get outside at the crack of dawn and get stuff down as we are in 100 degree weather here. We were 106 Saturday, and due to be 110 Sunday. My 40+ year old camellia has been struggling. All the leaves were falling off. This was my shade for my begonias, and therefore my begonias have been failing too, they have been getting burnt up in the heat. I have an open ended shed that mainly stores tools and empty pots. I rearranged the tools and pots, and put some plant stands in the shed, and put my begonias out there. They are being protected from the sun. The shed has two high windows, so they can get some indirect light.

Next I took out my handy-dandy reciprocal saw and whacked that poor camellia down.

I am hoping one of grandson Jaeger's friends who has a winch on the front of his jeep will help me pull the stump out.

On another note, my dahlias and hollyhocks are doing well.

Also I have an several asparagus plants I planted several years ago. About 3 weeks ago, 1 stalk of asparagus came up. I cut it down, and I have another one coming up. I know nothing about how asparagus grows, but I guess I should have planted more plants.

My sister-in-law Char sent a picture of their new pillow shams I made with the lighthouse quilt I made. I was worried they wouldn't fit, but they did.

This week my friend Jandra and I went to lunch, and our favorite vintage thrift store. I found a couple of things. One vender had put a bunch of her doilies on sale for $3.00 each.

I also found this cute little lighthouse purse. I don't like to carry a large purse anymore and this is just perfect for me. It is like a purse and wallet all in one.

Also at the same thrift shop I saw this cute idea. A piece of driftwood, with a stick attached and part of a doily for a sail. I probably have a scarf I can use to make one myself.

I have been working on more potato chip blocks. I would like to have a couple of more quilts made by the time I have community service workday at my house the end of the month.

I have two things I am working on slow stitching this week. First I will finish sewing the binding down on my Picnic Party project.

The other thing I am working on is a baby quilt that was donated at our last guild meeting. It had a note on it that said "needs outer borders quilted" I volunteered to do it, then got home and looked at it, and realized that it was hand quilted. I am not a very fast hand quilter, but I am pretty sure I can get it done by the guild meeting next Wednesday.

Check out what the other hand quilters and piecers are doing below.

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another. If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Connie

I will be linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching. Head on over and check out what those ladies have been up to also.

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to come back next week for Picnic Party