Stocking Stuff--hers

I've kept up on my stocking creating.  And this time they are for some girls I know.  This stocking is a 'mate' (if you can call it that?) to the first.  1.5 inch hexagons in a variety of reds.  Like the previous stocking (here)  I added a stripe ruffle.  This time a dash of green separates the ruffle from the embroidered top.  I had to blur the name to protect the gift's secret.

I embroidered the top with the name and a cute little Christmas Tree. For the back I  kept it simple by using a Red print.

The second stocking I made was a Knitted and Felted little number.  I used a pattern I have fallen back upon numerous times from Felted Knits by Beverly Galeskas. It's a great pattern.  If you have knit a sock before, it's super-duper simple. I used brown sheep worsted weight for the red and Cascade 220 for the green (also worsted).  I haven't knit in almost a year and I cannot tell you how Awesome it felt!  (no pun intended)  

Two more Christmas gifts checked off that list!

Hush up

I am not sure that I shared this story.  In fact I am sure I didn't.  It was unsettling to say the least.
About 1-2 months ago, not exactly sure of the time, my Rowenta Iron caught fire.  No worries. There was no damage.  That there could have been was troublesome.  As quilters we rely on our Irons, almost daily.  The reality is I do not Iron my clothing nearly as much as I iron the fabric I sew.

 I was up in my quilting space ironing several large pieces of backing as well as a quilt top.  As I ironed each piece I would then drape it over my quilting table in preparation for loading the quilt.

 Now this particular iron had it's peculiarities, as do many electronic devices I own.  It often would release steam at random. Usually while it sat waiting for me to pick it up to iron the next piece.  I assumed that this was a method the iron used to cool it's self when it started to get to hot.  Perhaps it is, I still do not know.  What I do know is that this particular day when the iron started to make popping noises and smoke started to stream out of the iron I thought it was cooling.  It wasn't until I started to smell burning plastic and the smoke alarm went off that I realized, "This is not steam."

I immediately unplugged the iron. As I sat I watched the smoke continue to wisp out of the iron.  I started to wonder if perhaps leaving it on the ironing board, which happened to be sitting next to my antique dresser wasn't just a really bad idea.  I checked the handle and it was cool.  I gently carried the iron out and set it in the driveway.  There it sat for 15-20 minutes and smoked.  For a good 15 minutes a steady tendril of smokes twisted its way out from between the metal plate and the plastic body. It was truly amazing.  Here the iron was UNPLUGGED and it was still burning.

I thought it best to contact Rowenta and see if this particular model had had any recent recalls or safety warnings. The woman I got was remarkably calm, almost bored, as I explained how my home could have just caught fire.  The first words out of her mouth were not, "Oh, I am sorry." or "I hope no one was injured."  Her first words were, "How much property was damaged?"

What?

Now, I realize when you are working for customer service you could get a little callous towards life or death situations.  But, Really?  I explained to her that there was no damage and that I was calling to make sure this situation would not happen to another individual.  Another individual who may not have the same 'luck' that I had.  Again she gave me a bored response as she explained that the model I have did not have any recalls or safety issues.  She was also quick to inform me that my warranty was expired and that they could not issue me a new iron.  Again, Really?  I offered to send her the iron in the hope that if there was an electrical issue that, again people could be warned. Finally I got a little 'carring' out of her but it was brief.  Her next statement explained that if the technicians found and issue I would not necessarily be issued a new iron.  Again, I NEVER asked for one!

She took my information down and insured me I would get a copy of the technical evaluation.  Nope.  Now I could still get one, but I am not holding my breath. Here is the model # DZ 1500 if you would like to check yours.

What I got was a brand-new-iron.  Yesterday, much to my surprise, a brand-spankin'-new iron was delivered to my house.  No report, explanation, not even any paperwork in the box.  Just and iron.   I feel a bit like I am being bought off.  Okay, I feel a lot like it!  Hush money. A bribe. I don't know.  All I do know is that I feel a little guilty and a lot dirty.  I haven't even taken it out of the box yet.

Creating of a different sort.

This past week, you may have noticed I was a bit absent from blogland. With the loss of my Long-arm machine I inadvertently freed up time for 'other' types of projects.  Namely, tiling my kitchen backsplash.  This is a project that I have wanted to do since we moved into this house 4 years ago. After a week of bringing home tile sample after tile sample, I decided on a travertine and glass tile combination.  The dark granite countertop and the light cream cabinets made tile choices difficult but I think I made the right choice.

It took me about a week to tile the entire kitchen backsplash.  From what I've read, I need to seal the travertine before we grout to ensure that the cleanup goes smoothly.  The travertine is quite porous and without a sealant the grout would likely adhere to every inch. Since there has been no word on my long-arm machine I am left with ample time on my hands to create beauty of an entirely different sort.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! Okay a day late.  Hope your Halloween was as spook-a-licious as ours was.  As you would expect they had a blast!  Who doesn't love getting free candy?  Fortunately for us the rain held off until today.  I know many had a very wet and rainy beggars night.  We were able to sit out by the fire and enjoy conversation (and maybe a few goodies) while we catered to the trick-or-treaters. A few pictures to share.

E has recently been obsessed with Teen Beach Party.  Which consequently led to the watching of the original Frankie Avalon & Annette Funicello original Beach party movie.  Which then opened the box to an entire era of Teen beach movies. E. Loves the oldies.  So naturally she went as a greaser.  Beehive and all.  Let me tell you getting her hair up that high wasn't so difficult.  Getting her hair to stay up that high was a major problem.  

J and his friend had other less defined plans.  Okay they had no plan.  Basically it was what can we throw together in 15 minutes.  So they went as Evil Scientist.  Lab coat? Check.  Safety Goggles? Check.  Work Gloves?  Check.  Albert Einstein wig? Check.  

Hey, they're 8th grade boys.  Things were very unsure right up to the minute they grabbed 2 pillowcases and headed out the door.  All-in-all it was a very successful haul.

Happy Halloween!

Stocking

It's official.  My Long-arm is sick.  I received the cable Saturday.  I had hoped that it would fix the problem.  Sadly, No.  She is all boxed up and loaded into my truck. Sniff.  Soon she will be on her way to Utah.  Hopefully she will be restored to her former glory and return home soon. sniff. sniff.

Meanwhile I have been busily working on another project.  Christmas Stockings. Remember when I said that I had found a new plan for my Hexagons?  Well this is it.

Cute!

Don't give me all of the credit.  I had a little help in the form of inspiration from Amanda Murphy's Modern Holiday.  She has four different and equally striking stocking ideas in her book.  But I saw the hexagons and just new I had to make it for my nephew.  I didn't follow Amanda's pattern, basically because I am lazy.  The pattern in the book called for enlarging the templet 300%.  My printer/copier doesn't enlarge.  And I just didn't feel like driving to the print store.  See?  Lazy.  

I simply made up my own by tracing a generic red and white felt stocking I had on hand.  I had to  modify the hexagons I had already sewn up by adding a row to the bottom and a couple to the side to accommodate the heel.

I embroidered my nephew's name by hand.  It finished up quickly, seriously it only took one Dr.'s Appointment to finish it up. I checked out TaDa! Creations for her quick embroidery tutorial and she just happened to have a stocking tutorial too!  Her embroidery is far superior to mine but her tutorials are awesome.  I even added the ruffle from her stocking tutorial!

I backed the stocking with Santa fabric.  In hindsight, red would have been a better choice, but for a 2 year-old I just couldn't resist Santa.

Now for the really fun part.....Filling it!

This is not good...

I had the sewing machine repair man out to set the timing on my Longarm.  Sadly he found other more complicated problems.  Now my machine sits and waits for a new cable.  Hopefully that will have me up and running soon.

A Bean Bag...Baby

The Little Boy Blue {Toddler Bean Bag} from Vanessa Goertzen of lellaboutique.com is on it's way to a special little one.  I finished it up towards the end of last week.  It is so cute.  I mean it!  SO CUTE! 

It has been tested and approved by all of my, not so, little ones.  If I could have only snapped a shot of my 16 y.o. trying to sit in it!  

The pattern went together so quick!  The worst part was those darn beans!  They get everywhere, and FAST.  Emma and I resorted to stabbing them with pins to try to keep those pesky little static cling beans from rolling everywhere.  We had all these little shish-kabobed beans stabbed into the carpet all over the sewing room.  It was quite funny.  Kinda had to be there.    The pattern calls for a separate interior bag to hold all of those little beans.  That way the exterior can be washed and rewashed.

Now I still have 1/2 a bag of beans left.  Guess I'll have to sew up another.  darn.