Update On Oopsie

Being that I forgot to reverse my lettering yesterday, and didn't realize it until I saw the picture on my blog, I had to re-do the whole thing.  I went searching on google for a way to reverse lettering in Word 2003, and apparently you can't.  Woe is me.

You can in newer versions, but I can't walk you through that.  

So.  I put my thinking cap on, which promptly melted [it's 93F, no a/c] and scanned my printed pages into my computer.  I then opened them in paint, flipped them horizontally, and saved them as a png file.  I copied and pasted the png files into another word document, and lo and behold, it worked.

And for some strange, bonus reason, the print came out darker than the original - no light box needed to trace these onto fusible web!

Isn't that a lovely compensation for the extra work.  I'd trace them tonight, but I had used up all my fusible and need to get more tomorrow.

I don't think I ever showed you this quilt, it belongs to my friend Shirley, and was made by her husband's aunt many years ago.  I think it's interesting that what is old is new again - I'm seeing these quilts made new everywhere.  Lovely, isn't it?

And a close-up:

Have a great weekend - 

Love,
Allie

News, and a Tutorial

Good news - we close on the house next Wednesday!!!  Yay we're moving!  Wait - someone has to move all this stuff....*gulp*  Oh dear.  

I had an idea the other night, and have been playing.  I'd love to hang some scripture quilts in our new house.  So, I picked a few verses, put them into a Word document, and made appliques.  I'm going to show you how I did it.  Today, I fused all the letters, and Sunday will start on piecing the background.

That's a lot of letters.  And I just realized I forgot to reverse every single one of them.  Somebody needs to write in red ink in huge letters on my wall - REVERSE YOUR LETTERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You really can make appliques from almost any font, in Word.  I have Word 2003, you may have a newer version, but it's pretty basic.  

Open a new Word document.  Type in or copy and paste your text.  I copied a verse from my King James Bible Search software [free download].  

When you're done typing, or pasting, click on edit [above the red arrow].  When the drop-down menu comes up, click "select all".  This will highlight all your text.

Now click Format, by the red arrow.

This will open a small window.  Forgive the next pic, I couldn't get a screenshot, the window would disappear - had to use my phone.

This is where the magic happens.  Scroll through until you find a font you like, I prefer one that isn't too fancy.  Click "outline", under Effects, where the lower red arrow is.  It will change the font to just an outline!

Next, change the size.  You can put your cursor in the size window, and type in the size you want.  I chose 150 for this project.  

Now click "ok", and see what happened to your type!

You can keep following these steps until you get exactly the font and size you want.  I wasn't sure the size was right until I printed out the first page [only print out one page!] but it was great.

I like to type in the whole alphabet, and keep it for a reference.  That way I’m not printing out pages and pages of letters, I only have to do it once, and I can use that printout over and over.  On the printout, I write the font size and type as well.  I'll be using this font and size for more than one scripture quilt.

I really shouldn't be sewing - I should be packing - but it's not like we have a time limit.  We won't be selling our house right away, we have SO much stuff to move, and the house needs some fixing up.  So...what did we do last weekend?  We went to a neighborhood garage sale, tons of them.  Because we need more stuff to move, lol.  Mum went too, and she found some toys - 

She's pretty serious about toys.  We were cracking up about this picture.  She's everybody's grandma, and when any kids come over, she's prepared for them!  Not sure if you can make out the chairs, they're children's school chairs from the 50's, I HAD to have them.  One is going to my best friend's house, we both have a thing about chairs. 

Oh - about Mum - her liver is slowly failing, she needs to see a specialist, and her heart dr. called, there's something wrong with her mitral valve.  More specialists.  Prayers would be mucho appreciated. 

That's all the news from Allie-land I think, I have no idea when we're taking possession of our new house, I just can't wait to walk you through it!  It's double the size of our house now, I'm so looking forward to having some breathing room.  I'll see you soon!

Love,

Allie

Postcards From Heaven, Block 6, June

It's time for our June block of Postcards from Heaven!  Another of my favorite scriptures - I have a lot of favorites, lol.

Are you a morning person?  I am not...been a night owl since birth.  I do, however, love getting up around 4am, and get going on my day - but it hardly ever happens.  How well do you wake up?  I usually stumble around, looking for coffee and trying to remember how to make it, and wondering if I'm supposed to be somewhere.  With, you know, actual clothing on.  Clothing that isn't jammies.  It takes half a pot of coffee before I'm truly joyful, I'm afraid!

Jenny's gorgeous block - 

How I love her style!  Jenny will be uploading the alternate wording to her blog, so go check it out once her post is up - we try to coordinate our uploads, but there is a 10 hour difference in time to deal with, so please be patient with us!  Click >>HERE<< for her blog.

As usual, I've used the King James Bible for my scripture reference.  You can get this month's postcard from my craftsy shop, just click >>HERE<<.

Be blessed as you stitch!!

Love,
Allie

Impatience

I admit it, I'm no good at waiting.  Once my mind is made up, I like to act on it, right then.  

But.  If a thing is worth having, it's worth waiting for, right?  Like, a house.  Sigh.  Still waiting on paperwork.

Reminds me of my Army days.  Hurry up and wait.

My sewing machine is packed away, which is a good thing, because I'm so absent-minded right now nothing would turn out right.  I'm working on hand projects.  Which is Allie-speak for "nothing to show you".

Mum and I went to visit our friend Shirley last week, it was so good to see her.  She had her 86th birthday recently, is still walking miles a day, and still moves like a young girl.  Her family bought her a new porch set for her birthday, it's just gorgeous - wouldn't you love to have a porch like this for morning coffee?

And a random pic from Mother's Day, because I have nothing quilty or stitchy to show.



Mum says "hi".  I'm taking her to the heart doctor later this week, her batteries on her pacemaker are almost done, so they're keeping a close eye on her.  Haha - my mom is battery-operated.

That's all for now, just wanted to pop in and say "I'm still here - well, most of me".  Not too sure about mentally.

Love,
Allie

Happy Dance!

Last night, I was finishing up a project - worked on it all day, and all night.  I finally finished, turned on my computer, and read an email from our realtor - read it again, and promptly burst into tears.  They accepted our offer!!!  We got the house!

I get my own sewing room!  Oh it has so much room - you should see us today, planning and scheming who gets what room, and we haven't even signed anything or had an inspection.  But we will.

When I read the email, it was 1:00am - whoever wasn't sleeping was still at work.  I had nobody to share the good news with!  I called my mom, as I knew she'd be up, and she was very excited...texted my son, who also got very excited...when hubby finally came home, he asked if there was any news.  I said yes, they sold the house....just as he got ready to blow his top, I said "to us".  Giggle.

As you can imagine, I'm going to be very busy for the next little bit, I may not be posting much or visiting.  Not sure how long we have to wait to take possession, but once we do it's going to be a whirlwind!  I can't wait to show you the house!

Hermione isn't very excited though....she's going to miss the wildlife in her tree.

See you soon, I hope!

Love,

Allie

M.I.A.

Hi folks - been MIA for a bit - haven't been blogging, visiting your blogs, or much of anything online.  I do have good reason, though....

I've been taking lots of pics of my crabapple tree outside my sewing room window, as it may be the last spring I'm here to enjoy it.  We've put another offer on a house, and are in negotiations now.

We went again to view it today.  I like it....a lot.  We'll see.

Also, mum hurt her foot again.  Walked into a door, and sliced her toe on the bottom of the door.  I took her out to my aunt's today, so she could look at it, and my aunt thinks she'll be fine - and not have to go through everything she did last time.  WHEW.

Right now, I'm working on a project that needs to be completed by the end of the month, for a quilt-a-long that starts in September - so fun!  I hope you stay tuned for that.  I'm trying to get it done as soon as possible, in case we do move...not only would this new house require some work, but also the house we own now, as we'll be selling it.

Every time I think of all the work, I need another nap.

Fortunately, there's a new super food on the market.

image source

I might be able to get through anything with that for breakfast.  (Yes, they're delicious!)

I'm also trying to finish stitching my postcard for June, as I'm sure May will fly by.  I spent a couple of days last week shopping with my son, he needed a suit for a wedding this past weekend.  May I say I LOVE shopping with boys?  No lingering, no drama, just "yes it fits, let's pay and go".  I can't believe I didn't get a picture of him in it!!

I'll try to get around to visit you all this week, although it looks like another busy one...so no promises.  But I miss you all like crazy and am dying to see what you're working on!  Don't finish too many things or I'll never catch up, lol!

Love,

Allie