Machine Applique' Class

November 18, 2010 I went to a Machine Applique' class with my friend Karey and her daughter Danielle. I'd tried my hand at it years ago without a class but just basically using a zigzag stitch around Character cut-outs on quilts I made my girls when they were little. That kind of applique is very visible. This class was for the invisible stitching and I welcomed something new and spending time with friends.

A couple things that are good to know before you start are to cut your block 1-2 inches larger than needed. (ie: 10-1/2” to 11” for a 9-1/2” block.) Freezer wrap shrinks when you iron it on so draw the appliqué pattern on the back of the block. Find the center of your block and put a dot on center back for squaring when finished.

As shown in the top picture, you first iron freezer wrap paper on the wrong side of your applique' fabric. If the fabric for the background of the block is light, put paper underneath for appliqué placement. Dark fabric needs a light box.

  Fold applique' fabric back over freezer wrap while taking little tiny basting stitches close to folded edge as in the second picture. Tack to block with dots of "Roxanne Glue". "Roxanne Glue" is a temporary glue that dissolves quickly. It's good for use in some applications but I personally don't like gluing some projects.  For instance, I would never want to put glue on a quilt I was making that I intended to become an heirloom. It's fine for any project you don't mind washing or having a little glue residue in the finished product. You may want to fasten your applique' to your block with fine pins instead of the glue.

      Now you're ready to machine applique'. Picture 3 has the settings to my sewing machine. Normally you would sew with invisible monofiliment (nylon) thread but we were sewing with a dark thread so we could see what we were doing for practice. Carefully sew around the outside of your applique' with a hem stitch so that just the stitch over catches the applique'. Picture 4 shows the detail while picture 5 shows the whole applique'.

        At this point you can remove the basting stitches. Then cut out the back of the block fabric 1/4" inside of the applique' stitching. Spritz with water to remove paper. Wah-lah! One block perfectly done.

Hampton Remodel (August/September 2010)

Remodeling a home is no small feat. Nor is it inexpensive! At least I had a wonderful contractor that didn't charge me an arm and a leg. This is the house my dad bought back in the 70s. He rented it mostly to family. His Aunt Rita lived there until she couldn't care for herself any more. My sister and her family lived there for a little while and my dad lived there for many years too. My daughter Roxanne has lived there since dad passed away in 2004. We did a few things to fix it up with plans to do others but this last July Leland got a great job up in Portland, Oregon. With the house vacant, it was a good time to give it the over haul it badly needed. This is the original before picture.













These next two pictures are of the entry and then the living room. They are crisp and clean with new paint and new floorings. New walls too as the old wallboard was so brittle. We tore it down, put up insulation and then new wallboard.

 Now we come to two pictures are of the bedroom area. The first is looking in through the doorway into the living room. The furnace is one of two main items that are about the only old things left but we had a professional give it a check up. The second picture looks toward the bathroom. The cupboard is a nice addition. The bottom door houses the new water heater while the top door is a nice spacious area for towels, linens or whatever.

Be careful you don't fall down the 'stair' looking at these next two pictures! The half stair from bedroom to the bathroom, laundry and closet area has been a great joke in the family. My contractor had the plumbing brought up to code and turned in the laundry area so how the washer can face out instead of being sideways. I gave him free rein in the bathtub surround area and I love what he came up with. I still think it's amazing that there were tiles out to match the old bathtub. It's the old iron type covered with porcelain. That thing will last forever.

  

I love the plumbing company my contractor used; Day and Night Plumbing. I'd had the plumbing in the kitchen worked on before and that plumber couldn't make it any different than to stick out into the room. The picture here of the kitchen sink area shows the skinny cabinet that covers the plumbing that Day and Night was able to hide behind it. I love that skinny cabinet! Love all the new cabinets. Most were done prior to this remodel. The cabinets with the glass doors were added at my contractors suggestion and they look great!

Finally, the outside of the home. New soffeting, new gutters and drains, new door opening and new paint. It's a very nice little cottage home that my daughter Sonia now calls home.

Remodel!

Our upstairs bathroom has needed help for quite some time. This year, I got the brilliant idea to do like the kids did to me a few years back and remodel the bathroom for Richards' birthday. (They painted the downstairs bathroom and bought some new stuff for it while Richard had me out of the house for the day.) Here is the before picture:So while Richard was out of town at a week-long classes in New Mexico and Texas, the work began. One guy had told me that we'd have everything done but the surround because that took awhile to order but the surround had to go in before the flooring and then the toilet and fixtures were last. One of the reason's I'd wanted to do this was the plumbing needed help. Here is the picture of the new plumbing (yay! no more leaks!) and you can see a bit of the new tub. It did not get as done as I thought originally in that week of construction.

So when Richard got home it was 'Surprise, the bathroom is torn apart and the toilet is in the kitchen. Happy Birthday, dear!' He was a good sport about it while we waited for the surround, flooring, and then plumbing to get put in. We had to tough it out for awhile but in the end, it looks like this:
Yay, new bathroom that doesn't leak and doesn't have tiles falling off.

Last Supper...

... before the move. Leland landed a really sweet job up at the University of Portland. He'd been interviewing and then working up there for 6 weeks while Roxanne held down the fort at home. She packed and packed and tossed and sold stuff (like their trailer) till the final weekend. Then Leland flew back July 30th and they packed some more.
Of course they couldn't leave town without seeing everyone so we all had dinner at the Jasmine cuz it's close to the grandparents and has pretty good food for a decent price.
Sonia and Hillary were off in Las Vegas watching Aerosmith hobble around the stage so it was just us, grandma and grandpa, Roxanne, Leland and Shawn. It was a cozy dinner and we had a great time.
Bon Voyage kids!

Airstream

We bought a camp trailer. It's an Airstream and among some groups, that is really prestigious. To us, it's just a nice trailer that won't get dang mice in it and we can get out of the wind and sun to have a sandwich while up at our property. It definitely needs some cushion fabric updating and a good wipe-down but that's about it.