Sleep....

Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care, the death of each day's life, sore labour's bath, balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, chief nourisher in life's feast.

William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act II, Scene 2

Wide awake at 4am.  Funny how strange my house seems at that hour - almost like it resents me being up.  At least til the sun comes up.  Maybe I've been reading too many murder mysteries, lol!!!!

Today is mum day.  I hope I don't fall asleep on her.  Although she usually falls asleep on me - we always end up here, having tea while she fills out her money orders, and then she sits in a comfy chair and goes right out!

At least I got a little work in.

I can't wait to start pulling fabrics for these!  Tomorrow for sure - I think I'll be going to bed very early tonight!  I'm already looking forward to it.

I hope you all have a lovely day, and that you got enough sleep....

Love,

Allie

Applique Club Important Notice

This post is for all who've joined the Applique Club.  When you join, I send out your joining gift within 24 hours - if you have not received it, please add my email address to your contacts

alliehartom (at) gmail (dot) com

and let me know that you didn't receive it.  Sometimes your email will block an unknown email from sending attachments.  So check your spam folder as well.
In the future, I'll send a welcome letter without an attachment, to make it easier for you to add my email to your contacts, then send the joining gift.  I'd forgotten how rigorous spam filters have gotten! 

Love,
Allie

   

Lovely Mornings

End of August.  And instead of blistering hot days, we're enjoying some autumn-like weather.

I throw open the windows first thing, put on a hoodie and BREATHE.  The nights are cooling off enough to keep the a/c off.  Glorious days....

Yesterday, we celebrated Thing 2's 25th birthday.  He's my youngest.  A simple celebration - pizza and cake - surrounded by family.  No pics, didn't ask permission, and they turned out silly anyway, lol.

I've finished the September Issue of the Applique Club, would you like to see the patterns?

First, a mini-quilt based on scripture - 

Next, an autumn-themed table runner - 

and for that one, I show you three ways of doing it!  And of course, our Calendar Bird BOM...

Today, I'll be starting the October patterns, and wait til you see our little bird for that month!

You can join the Applique Club any time - simply click here > 

Applique Club

scroll down, and click "subscribe".  Patterns are sent out on the first day of the month, and the deadline to get that month's patterns is the day before.

Now I'm off to make sure the dishes are washed - the city is installing new water mains, so we'll be without water for a day, but they didn't tell us exactly which day.  Today, tomorrow or the next day.  I purchased some styrofoam cups for my coffee (hate them but won't be able to wash out my coffee cup) and filled all the water bottles.  As long as I stay on top of the dishes and laundry, we'll be good!

Take care my friends, I'll see you soon....

Love,

Allie

Computer Is Fixed!!!

Good morning dear friends!!  It's been an eventful week here in Allie-land - my computer fan decided to stop working, I wondered why it was getting so hot, so I couldn't use it for a few days.  All fixed now though, so I'm back!

A friend gave me a new table - well, new to me - she bought it new 65 years ago.

It has a lovely green top and now holds my cutting mat.  Somehow when you're sewing, you never have enough horizontal surfaces - well, now I do!

Also our coyote is back.

He's been coming very close to the house - we walked outside the other day, and he was right there, stalking a groundhog.  We didn't bother him at all - he looked at us, and kept on with what he was doing!

Thing 2 and I went to the zoo on Friday.  They have a gorgeous penguin exhibit - largest in the world - unfortunately, they've detected a leak in the basement, so all penguins will have to go back to their old home for a year while it's fixed.  They've already moved half the penguins over, it's closing Sep 1 for a  year.  I had to go see it while it was still open!

The first window wall.  They have displays up above that give penguin facts, and they're scattered throughout.  This is what you see when you walk in the door.  The next area is an immersion area that tells the story of Shackleton's adventures.  You feel like you're on the bow of the ship, with huge movie screens all around that show the sea during a storm, calm, daylight and nighttime.  It's wonderful.  There's even fog and mist.  

You walk down through the ship, and come to the deep diving area of the penguin exhibit and two tunnels where you can watch them.

They seem to love it!  Then back upstairs and another window wall.

We also went in the butterfly house, which has been there since I don't know when - it's just gorgeous.  The zoo opened in 1928 and I believe it was built then.

But oh so hot!  And of course Sam wanted to go in the reptile house, these places were SO hot, I couldn't stay long.  We really didn't see much that day, I was very warm, we didn't bother walking to the back to see the Arctic Ring of Life.  It's really worth a visit but my feet were killing me!

I've also been working on September's patterns for the Applique Club.

I'm not happy with the way my machine is stitching lately, she's going to have to have a spa day soon!  

Well I'd better get back to it, there's another mini-quilt to quilt and patterns to write - see you soon!!

Love,
Allie

Happy Little Things BOM + Give-Away!!!

Yay, it's time to start Happy Little Things Free BOM!  I was honored to be asked by Jacquelynne Steves to participate - and it's so fun!  Click here to see Jacquelynne's post - Happy Little Things - and stay tuned for the give-away at the end of the post, not just on my blog but on the other participating bloggers as well - she has some fantastic sponsors!!  I'll link to the other bloggers at the end of the post!

When I got the pattern and was deciding how to do it, I chose to go with the embroidered version.  I do love embroidery!  I also chose to use fabrics by Kim Diehl that I've been collecting.

In tracing the embroidery, I use a red Frixion pen, because it's heat erasable.  I'm a messy tracer and wanted the lines to disappear when I was done.

I always cut my block larger than needed, and pink the edges to reduce fraying.  I then add a fusible non-woven interfacing so my floss doesn't show through to the front - and it's just easier to handle.

After stitching, I trimmed the block down, using painter's tape to mark a square on my ruler [it's the only ruler I have], making a "window" so I could center the block.

For the flying geese [my first one ever!!!] I followed Jacquelynne's tutorial, here:  Flying Geese Tutorial

I discovered that I had to stitch just below the line I made - I can't stitch directly on the line, but next to it toward the outside corner that I'll be cutting off.  Not sure if you can see it in this picture:

When I did that, it lined up perfectly!

Very happy with that!  The rest of the block was so easy, and I am a terrible piecer, lol!

I ended my block with log cabin style strips [sorry, forgot to take a picture of that], as I had a slightly different vision for the finished piece.  I stitched a strip to the right side, bottom, left side, then top, and set it aside waiting for block 2!  

Now, the moment you've been waiting for, the give-aways!  The prize this month is an Olfa Pack, how cool is that!

Simply leave me a comment, with your email, to be in the running for this give-away.  (click on "comments" at the end of this post to leave one).  
The give-away is open to U.S. and Canadian residents for the Olfa pack, international winners will receive an alternate prize.  One prize per person per give-away.  
The give-away ends on Sunday, August 11th at midnight.
(Please be sure that I can contact you immediately through your blog account, or be sure to include your email in your comment.  If I choose your name but cannot contact you immediately, I will have to choose another winner.  If I do not receive a response from you within 48 hours, I will have to choose another winner.)

Ok, that's the give-away on my blog, but you can also enter at the other blogs!!  Here's a list, go visit!!!  Click on each name to visit:

A Quilting Life

Podunk Pretties

The Crafty Quilter

Flamingo Toes

Happy Quilting Melissa

The Quilting Nook

Kathy's Quilts

Are you a member of Jacquelynne's Facebook group?  Great fun, and you can post pictures of your blocks there!  You can join here:  Sew Quilty Friends

Whew, that's a long post - and now that it's done I need to get stitching for my Applique Club's September designs!  I wish you well in the give-aways, as always be blessed, be happy!  See you soon!

Love,
Allie

EDIT:  Most of you are coming up as no-reply bloggers, I have no way to contact you if you win.  Please put your email in your comment, in this format -(example)   allieoopsdesigns (at) gmail (dot) com