tri rec stars and robo vac

 All the trip rec stars are cut and paired next to sew.  I like this low tech stuff, putting pieces on my design wall and moving them around then sewing.
I recently got one of those robotic vacuums that goes all by itself.  DD set it up for me while she was home because it needed an app and some other stuff that makes no sense to me.  Today I thought I would find out what it could do.  Oh I had to give it a name so I named it Sammi for my little shih tzu who had been gone for 7 years now.  There were never any crumbs on the floor when she was alive.  We will see if robo Sammi is as good as the original.  I pushed the button to start it up then I decided to  pick up and move chairs so it could do a thorough job,  I didn't get a couple things moved before it bumped into them so on its next sweep it went around the object that was no longer there and took a couple more sweeps before it got the job done.  It did the kitchen and part of the sun room then went into the living room it did part of the carpet then went back and finished the sun room then its battery was getting low so it wanted to go to its charger but I had put the chairs back so it couldn't find its way.  I finally carried it. Not unlike Sammi the dog.  She made 6 moves with us and each time the door opened opposite to the previous house so she would sit at the hinge side of the door waiting for it to open.  About the time she relearned the door thing we would move again and had to learn it all again.  I recharged it then took it to the bedroom pushed the button and walked out the door.  I found out it can be lazy.  It worked for a few minutes then said it was done so I moved it and pushed the button again, it worked for a few minutes and sent me a message that it was done again.  It didn't clean the whole room.   Its really only as smart as the operator.  If I had read all the instructions and watched the videos............I had it set to do a spot clean which is about a 5 x 7 foot area.  I needed to set it to house.  I'm sure I confused it because I was pushing the app on the phone which I had to carry around the house all day I was also pushing the button on the vacuum. Push once, push twice, hold down or slide and tap.  After moving the furniture I had to dust so much for me having fun while it worked.  I was impressed with the amount of dirt and dog hair it picked up and DS's dog was only in the house for a little while but she's a lab and they shed no matter what time of year it is. It can clean the rest of the house tomorrow with a fresh charge  since I know better how to make it work and I will go to my sewing room for some low tech fun.  --Ann--

tri rec stars

Just some doodling on paper to plan the next quilt.  I got so I could draw the star without lifting my pencil.  I have been cutting the star pieces and adding to the pile of 1 1/2 inch strips for courthouse step blocks.  I can be matchy matchy with color and value or I can be scrappy and random.  The star block parts will mostly match but the courthouse steps hmmmm we will see what happens.  --Ann--

Nine Patches and Log Cabins

Blocks all sewn together and a border added. Such fun to use so many fabrics from my stash and some have been there since I started quilting. Greens have changed over the years, its hard to find a bright "grass" green now that isn't in a kid print or even a green with some contrasting colors in the print, everything new is very monotone in two values of the same hue.
I always wait to baste quilt tops until I have three or four ready before I get the quilt frame out because I have to move furniture and set it on four chairs gathered from around the house.  Its a bit of a bother so I wait until I can baste a pile.  Finally some sunny days here amazing how blue sky can improve attitudes.  Linking to Em's Scrapbag  --Ann--

Friday Knitting

The guys were off hunting last weekend so I was left to my own devices, I didn't have to cook for anyone but me so that was minimal, I had complete control of the remote so I snuggled up and watched movies most of the weekend and knit and knit some more.  I plan to finish one of these pairs this weekend.  --Ann--

Log Cabin with 9 patches

All the blocks are sewn now to trim and do some rearranging, I see some prints that are too close together.  I think I'll take them off the wall in random order then trim and put them back in rows and see what happens.  --Ann--

something new on the design wall

 Last week I was looking at some possibilities for the next quilt and thought maybe I would do the pine burr which is a long triangle with half square triangles coming up the sides and a diamond at the point, the base of the pine cones / triangles are set on a square or a square with sides that curve in, very attractive in green and red with a cream background.  The pattern I had was in a magazine from 1999.  I started cutting some greens then decided to do a trial block in scrap fabrics and I'm so glad I tried one before cutting 20 different greens for the pine burrs.  The magazine instructions were minimal, I cut templates and used all my tools and sewed very accurate quarter inch seams then sewed the HSTs to the big triangle then trimmed the curve to sew to the center and nothing fit right so I measured the templates and the math didn't come out right.  I would need to sew a very generous quarter inch seam to make the HSTs fit the long triangle and even then the template was cutting off the bottom pair of HSTs.  I don't like it when the points of triangles are missing!  The magazine is back on the self along with the templates I may try again someday.
I flipped through my favorite books looking for ideas then I was wishing I hadn't tossed so many magazines the last couple moves but I remembered as I purged magazines years ago that I ripped out pages and filed them.  Happy day! to look through all those patterns!!  I found a Kim Diehl pattern with nine patches and courthouse steps or log cabins and set aside a couple other patterns that use the same width of strips because you know I will cut too many.  --Ann--
P.S.  These fabrics were all in my stash.  And linking to Em's Moving it Forward 

Friday knitting

 One pair of sock finished and two more started.  With the self striping yarn I just have to knit until I come to the next color and then the next and the next.  My uncle brought me a ball of yarn from his trip to Patagonia its 100% merino yarn so I needed some superwash with nylon for the toes and heels and similar weight.  Its a heavier fingerling but these balls of leftovers are close.  Making progress on the Christmas socks.  --Ann--

Snow

 I was completely mesmerized by the falling snow the other day.  It was just falling straight down, no angles at all.  It was so peaceful to watch.  The ground is still white.  Winter may be long this year.  --Ann--

Friendship star quilts

 I've made this quilt pattern before, its just fun to see how the same pattern looks with different fabrics.  The second and third quilts were made with bales of 6" x 18" strips of fabric for the stars and 4 patches.  I completely used up the 26 strips and added the background and border fabrics. The last photo is a doll quilt  using 2 inch squares and triangles.  Two are photos of photos because they live somewhere else and the original digital photos were lost when the computer crashed a couple years ago.  Documenting quilts is important.  On to something new --Ann--

ta da da done

 Finished and ready to go.  --Ann--

Sewing time

Some much needed time in my sewing room and what a feeling of  power to put my foot to the pedal and free motion machine quilt.  This quilt is Dolly's Eclipse since Dolly Jean was born August 21, the day of the solar eclipse.  With a name like that and being born on a special day the quilt had to reflect those important events.  I had a fat quarter of a paper doll print, I chose fabrics from the doll dresses then the one dark blue star popped out as the moon crossing the sun and all the yellow stars surrounded the moon.  I tried to further convey that event by quilting the moon with circles and the yellow with sun rays.  I need to get the label sewn as it goes to its new home this weekend.  --Ann--

knitting

 The weather changed last week from go for a walk in shirt sleeves to wishing I had worn my down coat to go to the basketball game.   The wind came from the northwest as it usually does in late fall and early winter and blew for two days then took a breath and blew some more, the last of the leaves let go of their trees.  I got the wool sweaters off the top shelf and moved them to the lower shelves then put one on and a different sweater everyday since.  The summer shoes were tucked away and replaced with wool slippers.
I bought the blue yarn thinking I would knit a wrap then I bought a bright blue wrap in Venice so do I need two bright blue wraps...........what do I do with the yarn?  Start a sweater then buy another hank of yarn because I need three for the sweater and do it quick before they sell out. Whew I got the second to last hank and they all match.  I have knit the pattern before and love the way it fits.  DD didn't think it would be weird if I knit it a third time as long as it was a different color.  How many turtle necks have I had all from the same mail order catalog and been upset when they change the fit or the neck?  The sweater is progressing rapidly, its too cold to go for a walk so I knit.
Then panic......... its November and I need to get a couple more pairs of socks knit for Christmas gifts.   The sweater may be set aside for a bit.
It does no good here to whine about the cold weather so I  might as well enjoy the knitting time.  --Ann--