Thursday, May 24, 2012

Crazy Quilts

Running with Scissors

CQ Mag Online


From Diane's Decorating Diaries

How to block pieces together

Adirondack Museum

Traditional Crazy Quilts
From Allies in Stitches
I'm thinking of making a crazy quilt for Xmas as a gift  to my mom.(My mom doesn't use  the Internet so worries on her finding out). I already do some kind of crazy quilting on my fabric bags but never tried this. It looks like fun but I don't want to spend hours on just one block. I would never get anything done.
I 'll post some pics of my bags and I'll see if this will be one of my projects next month.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

NCIS Till Death Do Us Part

Okay if anyone hasn't seen the season finale you can go to CBS.com and watch it. You can also stop reading as I will be spoiling it for you if you haven't seen it.

It was an awesome episode continuing with the investigation of Harper Dearing who has it in for the Navy , Ncis and Gibbs. We find out that Gibbs was involved in a case that had Harper Dearing's son reassigned to the Navy ship that he died on.

Harper is a smart, tricky bastard that is so consumed with the grief of his son's death that he fails to show any remorse on taking lives to prove his point.. He continues his attacks on Ncis with kidnapping the Director but will come back to that.


Palmer's wedding is coming up and with all that is happening the team must decide. As Abby and Palmer come up to the bull pen to ask if they will be at his wedding, knowing  the importance of the case that is consuming every one's time. I felt bad for Palmer as he and Abby asked if they would be there? Unfortunately it was no and he understood but you still couldn't help feel bad for him.(Note to any Ncis characters-never get married in May. There's always something bad happening that month).

I was happy to see that after expressing his sadness at not having his Ncis family there to Ducky, Ducky assured him he would be there and that hug that followed was sweet.

Now back to Harper. Vance is finally found in a cemetery , lying in a coffin next to a rotting skeleton. The skeleton was one of Harper son's shipmate who also died with his son. The plot thickens as to why kidnap the Director? Maybe to show how vulnerable they are? Will also get back to that.


Gibbs and Ryan(Jaime Lee Curtis) have been working together on the Harper case trying to find out what his next move will be. I love how Jaime hasn't dyed her hair and she is still gorgeous(just ask the hubby who kept commenting how hot she was). Anyway, we find out she has an 14 year old son and Gibbs meets the kid. We also find out that Ryan has a psycho ex who has been released from prison thanks to Harper. This puts Ryan and her son in danger and she decides to leave town. At first Gibbs tries to change her mind but Gibbs understands her wanting to keep her son safe especially after a close call with Harper calling Ryan telling her he's watching her son. Yeah Creepy.



So now the race is on to find out Harper's plan. Gibbs enlists the help of Cole(yeah, that crazy dude that mentions Mexico to Gibbs during interrogation). Who had sold Harper those chips that are inside people's arm.(okay, if your not a regular Ncis viewer-well you need to catch up as this is from Season 8). Anyway, Cole helps but Harper knows they are using him. Damn!

So as they are in the Navy still trying to figure out what will be next on Harper's list, Vance comes down into the bull pen.
As he tells Gibbs is off to the Pentagon to meet with Sec Nav., Gibbs realizes Harper's plan. To plant a bomb in Vance's car.

Cole asks to help(bomb tech)and goes with Gibbs to the car to undo the bomb. Meanwhile the team is racing to get everyone out of the building.  We will come back again.

Palmer and his fiance decide to quickly get married so Palmer can get back to help. It's a sweet scene has his fiance understands. (keep her Palmer)

Anyway, back to the bomb. As Cole and Gibbs search and find this massive bomb in one of the seats, Cole tells him to go and get Abby out of the building as he tries to disable the bomb. As we see Gibbs rushing into the building, the bomb goes off. We see Gibbs grabbing Abby , Tony and Ziva in the elevator and McGee going down in the bull pen. You would think that would be enough. Nope.

This last scene had Ducky walking the beach in a tux. He receives a phone call about the bombing and to come in. As soon as the phone call is done, we see Ducky grabbing his chest and dropping down onto the sand. Yes, all of us watching this were depressed-saying nooooooo...... Not Ducky. The last scene you see is of Ducky lying on the sand with the waves really close to him.  It was a great season finally.



My guess on what will happen:
I am hoping Ducky doesn't die-THAT WOULD BE HORRIBLE-but I think Ducky will be out of commission for awhile and Palmer will take over for him.
Ziva and Tony-won't be hurt but will be stuck in the elevator for awhile confessing something?
McGee will be minimally hurt and will be okay.
Gibbs and Abby- I think Gibbs will be hurt but okay rushing to get Abby out as she will need to be in the hospital. Gibbs will get his guy after seeing his team hurt. Don't know if they will get to know about  Ducky's condition until after they are out of the Ncis building.

So there you have it. Will see how right or wrong I am. Geez , do I really have to wait until Sep.?



Saturday, May 19, 2012

Jello in a Jar

How cool is this? And you can eat it! Now I hate cooking and I don't really care for sweets but I have to admit that bright colored items in mason jars catch my eye.
This awesome idea is from the CookBook Queen

Another cool idea is this Rainbow Jello in a Mason Jar from Sugar and Dots.
This would taste so good on a summer day.
I would really like to make these and take one to work and eat it!

How to make Moroccan Lanterns

This is a great tutorial from Matsutake

This is a great idea for reusing Spaghetti or Mason Jars. I love how they look too.

I hope to try this out soon.

Friday, May 18, 2012

The Sewing Machine Accessory Bible

Wendy Gardiner and  Lorna Knight
I bought this book last week but only have had a chance to really look over it the past couple of days. (No, this doesn't count on my not buying anything for this month-that was fabric,yarn, beads,etc). I like how a description of each foot and what it does including many different ways it can be used.
 Sometimes just checking online for the information takes too long and you forget where you found it. I looked at some of those interesting feet and wanted to try some new projects(yes, I know. No new projects this month).
It helped with sewing feet I forgot how to use. Of course there's a few feet I wouldn't bother with but at least I know what they do.(Bernina has so many accessory feet that you would need to check with them for a book on it. I remember at a sewing machine shop there was like close to 100 maybe?).
Here's Bernina's list.
I recommend this book for challenging yourself to trying something new on the sewing machine. Also, when buying the feet for your machine keep in mind if you will use this foot often before you spend the money to buy it.


Sunday, May 13, 2012

Sergemaster 4300 New Information

I've been trying to find out more about my machine and now I know it was made by Simplicity. They have a side line of sergers called SergeMate. I found some sites to find parts including bulbs, knives/blades and other items. Here is the site to find  attachments.
Shoppers Rule-(I don't know anything about this site except they sell the snap on Sergemaster 4300 attachments for the serger).
Elastic  attachment foot
Blind Hem Attachment Foot

I've also found out that the Sergemaster is similar if not the same in parts and attachments with the following sergers.
Simplicity(SL stands for Simplicity)
SL 803
SL 803 SP
SL 804
SL 804 D
SL 804 DE
SL 804 E
SL 804 SP
SL 843
SL 4350 D
SL 4360 ED

Babylock (BL stands for Babylock)
BL 202
BL 302
Bl 4350 D

Sergemate
300
430
4350 D
5030
5040
5040 L

Similar or exact -you will have to look because it is hard to get a definite number.
Lower Blade Part # 412749
Upper Knife Part # 330404

Upper & Lower Knife 61425,61398
For Babylock Simpicity SERGE-MATE SERGER MACHINE

I found this one site with attachments and parts called Sewing Parts Online.com
You can use some of those Serger numbers above to compare to the Sergemaster 4300 to get your blades or parts. I'm sure you could also contact them to make sure you get the right parts for your serger.


Here's their site with all their serger attachments. Serger Attachments

Simplicity parts here
BabyLock parts here

There's always ebay to find your accessories too.

If you would like to purchase a manual(copy of mine) you can go to my etsy site to purchase it  click here.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Avengers Movie



I went and saw it twice already. (By the way, never sit in the front row). I loved it. It was action packed and  funny .The actors did a great job bringing the comic book characters to life.
 I missed having Edward Norton as Bruce Banner and because of this the  Hulk looked  different than the previous movie.
Robert Downey's Iron Man was funny with the nice jabs at his fellow super heroes.Stark and Banner- Awesome  having two brilliant people work together solving Shield's problems while confusing everyone else around them.
 I really haven't read the comics on  the Avengers as I am an X-men fan but I think it did a pretty good job with it's characters.
Black Widow was great-what a tough gal for not only keeping up with the physically enhanced heroes she worked with but  dealing with all those egos. I was hoping they would show Captain America finding out about his girlfriend in the first movie but it didn't explain anything about his previous life.
Great fight scenes with not only the bad guys but between each other.
Samuel Jackson's Nick Fury was excellent as only Nick can get all these heroes to put aside their pride to work together.
Go see this movie.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

May Sewing and Craft Challenge

In my quest not to have a cluttered sewing room, I decided to challenge myself each month on getting projects done.
My May challenge is
1)Not buy any fabric/craft supplies/yarn at all for the rest of the month. (the only exception is I need to purchase items for a custom order or to finish a project).
2)Finish at least one project this month if not more.
3)I can Not start a new project(except custom orders)this month.

If you would like to join you can list your challenge for this month. I'll post updates on this.

Most Awesome Craft n Sewing Storage Blog

You must take a at least an hour looking at this fabulous blog about storage, studios and just photos of ways to store your craft items. I was just blown away at some of these craft rooms/studios, or whatever you want to call them.
www.craftystorage.blogspot.com

Here are some photos from this blog. Under Sheds.
From the Sewing Area Section

Under Studios
Under Organization


Storing in Progress Projects

Does your sewing/craft room look like this? Are you doing 2,3 or more projects at a time? I am and I'm trying to find a way of organizing them without losing track of them. I've tried to look online for solutions and found some here on Flickr.

Some of the advise would work for me and others wouldn't. I think it depends on what you are looking for.
Asley,Enzo and Bernard advise baskets.

Lisa Jan Loves to Quilt suggested clear plastic boxes.

From Fresh Stitches-Here are ways to organize your knitting or crochet works in progress.
I'll be looking into the Dollar Store to buy some see through plastic storage containers to put some of my work in progress items.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Circus Decor

From Wish Song Design


From Merry Gifts this cute Cake Topper
This Carousal Horse by Once Upon a Time Accents

From Pillow Happy this cute Vintage Circus Fun Pillow
Vintage Circus Poster from Miss Quite Contrary
From Eye Shutter to Think this gorgeous Double Decker Carousel Photograph

 
 

Awesome Chandeliers

From Whimsical Collections this Alice in Wonderland Chandelier
From Fisch Tale Designs this Mermaid Chandelier
From Boots n Gus the Canning Jar Waterfall Chandelier
Again from Fisch Tales the Circus Elephant Chandelier.
From the Green Toadstool the Mystical Green Chandelier
From Mad House Design Coffee Cup Chandelier