A busy week

Usually I try to post something covering my weekend quilting/knitting/gardening activity, but this week has been somewhat hectic for me.  Over the weekend I worked on a baby quilt for one of my husband's colleagues and finished the quilt top. This stage is also known as a "flimsy".  I kept careful note of all my cutting, piecing and pressing time on this so I can come up with a suitable selling price for similar items in my "real-soon-now" etsy shop.  All the coloured pieces came from scraps and charms so this is a great way to use small pieces in a larger contrast background.

A couple of weeks ago my little plastic card authorizing me to work arrived from the US government and since then my SSN has also arrived.  It is so good to feel like a "real" person! With these in hand I was invited to give some training this week on the equipment that I helped build, test and worked with for 20 years.  Those days coincided with the winter storm that brought 8" (20cm) of snow overnight Monday/Tuesday and school closures Tuesday & Wednesday as the temperatures and wind chill remained somewhat low.  To top it off yesterday the battery in the family car gave every impression of quitting, but after messing me about and having been given a good charging played nicely this morning for my husband!  All of this took priority over my quilting time so there isn't much to show from during the week until today.

The snow is melting, but somebody still isn't impressed...

 
On the yarn front there has been more progress as last Saturday I took a class on knitting socks from the toe upwards, using this pattern entitled Toe-Up Socks.  I'm sure I could have figured out the pattern on my own, but the class gave me confidence and it was fun knitting along with other people. Over the next two classes we will learn to turn the heel and finally cast off (bind off) the top edge.  I had done a little knitting in the round both with a circular needle and double pointed needles (DPNS) on previous projects, but this was certainly more challenging and has added to my knitting skill set.

Today I cleared and cleaned the lounge floor (Design Floor Friday again!) and tried out a couple of layouts for Christa's Colors. What do you think? Rows together or with some black between? Squiggly black or mottled black?

I am going to let these options rattle in my mind for a few days and then take it all to my in-town retreat next week. The quilting group I belong to hires a meeting room at a local motel for 4 days twice a year. We all take our machines and project with us an can sew from 8 in the morning till 10 at night each day but still go home and sleep in our own beds. Any regular commitments can still be made but we can sew for all of the rest of the time. I think it is a wonderful idea and I love it.  Room hire cost per quilter is about $10 for the week!

Today I am linking up with:

Quilting is more fun than Housework: Oh Scrap!

Busy Hands Quilts: Finished or not Friday

Confessions of a Fabric Addict: Can I get a Whoop Whoop?

My Quilt Infatuation: Needle and Thread Thursday

En Provence top completed, OMG achieved!

As you may have noticed I didn't do much (anything) on En Provence last week, even though it is my February OMG.  Somehow I just couldn't settle to a long session on that single large quilt, hence the various scrap blocks made as procrastination projects. On Sunday afternoon, with only two more whole days of February left, I finally laid all the rows out and pressed the seams in the desired directions ready to assemble the centre and managed to reach that goal before needing to cook dinner.

Monday's task was making and attaching the borders.  Once I am happy with the layout of the blocks I pin little numbered Post-It notes to help me keep track, this is why:

Numbered "flags" help keep my pieces in the correct order

Note, like with Macavity, there is no sign of the perpetrator.....

I know to expect the "help" and try to keep him out of the area and with careful pinning, sewing and pressing eventually I reached this stage:

My En Provence quilt top is complete and I have achieved my February One Monthly Goal (OMG)!

Midweek update: part 1

I started writing this at the end of last week but got sidetracked, so firstly here is Friday's post:

Design Floor Friday

Some quilters have a design wall - a vertical cloth surface, often made of flannel, that quilt blocks can cling to or be pinned to, and there is a weekly blog link to Design Wall Monday to talk about what you have on that "wall". I have the flannel, but it has not yet been deployed in our new home so I am still working with the "design floor".  One problem with the design floor is that it can't be left in place as it is in our family lounge so I usually clear my WIP away and replace the coffee table before everyone else needs to use the room later in the day, another is that the cat loves to come in and rearrange the pieces, a bonus is that it makes me sweep and vacuum that room before I put all those hours of work down on the (past its best) parquet flooring. Both a nuisance and a bonus is that the DF is on the main floor and I sew in the basement, this means I have to remember how the blocks were arranged (my phone camera is a big help here) but I do get some, much needed, exercise going up and down the stairs.

The first 3 blocks of En Provence

My "helper"

Progress by the end of Friday

I treated myself to two new quilting books last week and they arrived on Thursday.

The one on the left turned up on a blog post I found when searching for ideas for the future setting of my Dresden plates, the other caught my eye as I wanted to qualify for Amazon's free shipping because two books are definitely better than just one and I love trying to use up all my little scraps, after all even those corner triangles we trim off were bought and paid for :)

Scrap taming

Firstly a couple of pictures of my spring bulbs in flower, three weeks earlier than the same varieties last year!

As well as trying to reduce the UFO list I am also attempting to keep my fabric scraps under some semblance of control.  I know all quilters consider different sizes to be "scraps", for me it is probably anything less than 1/8th of a yard.  Above a yard it is yardage, between 1/8 yard (fat or long/thin) and a yard it is a piece, but so long as it is bigger than 3/4" in one dimension it is worth keeping.  Of course if I bought a stack of precuts of whatever size they would also be pieces not scraps.  I hope that is all as clear as mud.

A great help in dealing with my scraps is Bonnie Hunter's scrap user's system though I think of it more as a scrap tamer's system :)  I don't follow Bonnie's system with every piece of fabric, but as I come to the end of the cutting phase for a project I do, usually, cut the smaller pieces into strips, squares & strings and put them into boxes.  I used to use cardboard shoeboxes but have now discovered Sterilite 6 quart clear plastic boxes, which my local Home Depot has at 98 cents per box, including the lid!  Slowly I am putting my larger volumes of scraps into those and I can see what I have.  I also keep a box of all the odd shaped bits that I can't be bothered into sorting more formally, including all the triangles that I trim as I make binding strips and other little itty bitty pieces almost too small to use.  These small pieces end up in crumb blocks which in turn make the scrappiest, most colorful quilts full of all my quilting history.  Anything less than 3/4" square does eventually end up in the bin.

This week I have continued working on the elephant quilt for my granddaughter and now have 15 pink heffalumps partially sewn together. In making this I have also ended up with lots of little HSTs* made by sewing an extra line of stitching before trimming off the corner triangles - maybe in this instance these  could be called elephant droppings?  I think I shall press and trim them, sew them together in little blocks and make some pincushions using Amanda Jean's method over at Crazy Mom Quilts in the hope that using up the scraps as I create them will help keep them under control.  All I'll have to do is work out what to do with all the pincushions!

A quick note on another difference between the UK & the USA: driving! My younger son turned 16 at the beginning of the month and I now have TWO teenage sons with learner's permits. Eeeek!

Back in the UK I would have paid to send them out with a driving instructor in a dual control car for him/her to deal with their awkward kangaroo hops in a manual transmission (stick shift) as they learned clutch control and I would only have taken them out once they had already developed some skills, also they would have had to display "L plates" (as in the image to the left) on the front and back of the vehicle whenever they were driving to let other road users know the car was in the "control" of a learner driver.  Here it has been up to me to do the initial skills transfer, starting in DH's work place car park/parking lot and soon they will be on the real roads with no warning to other drivers that they are inexperienced drivers.  Admittedly, starting to drive in an automatic is more straightforward, but I know there are all sorts of skills and habits that a UK certified driving school instills in a young driver that I will not remember to pass on to my sons.  In due course they will be taught how to drive using a clutch, so one thing they already know is not to put their left foot anywhere other than flat on the floor or the foot rest!  From my quick internet search for L plates it seems that even our UK armed forces are not exempt from the L plate rule.



* HST = Half Square Triangle

Small things that make life easier

Visiting Philadelphia last month we checked in at the hotel using my American issued debit card and the receptionist asked for photo ID. I duly handed over my UK passport and I saw the panic enter into her eyes. After I assured her it did have photos of yours truly within its battered maroon covers, and she conferred with her more experienced colleague, she accepted it as valid proof of my existence. Only as we collected the receipt as we left did I see that my address had been entered as Northern Ireland, United States - no street address, no town/city, just two completely geographically separated countries! Such events should now be in the past as I now have my Pennsylvania Driver's License in its full Technicolor glory. I swear I was more nervous for this relatively straightforward test than I was over 20 years ago on a foggy day in the UK. This time the test route was flat, short and simple as opposed to the one taking in the steepest street in the town specially to do the dreaded hill start, as many junction types as possible and a quiet housing estate (subdivision) for the 3 point turn and reversing around a corner. Back then I was disappointed to fail the first attempt (I passed second time around), this time I would have been terminally embarrassed.

Learning to use the correct vocabulary helps make life smoother too - there are the well known examples pavement/sidewalk, tap/faucet, boot/trunk, holiday/vacation, petrol/gas(oline) but less familiar terms crop up too, sometimes to the gentle amusement of one or both sides, this week I discovered that my shake-proof washer is an American's toothed washer and a grub screw is a set screw. Cooking ingredients need care too - all purpose flour is plain flour, self-rising is self raising, golden raisins are sultanas, American granulated sugar is nearer in crystal size to UK caster sugar than UK granulated sugar. For some recipes only the exact ingredient will do, calling for a trip to the international aisle in the supermarket to find a run of the mill UK item, usually at extra cost, for example golden syrup or, for a special occasion, a can of Heinz baked beans, which are not the same the world over as we have discovered. Some surprising things such as Lea & Perrin's Worcestershire Sauce are easily available as standard products. Also I heard "copacetic" (satisfactory, tickety-boo) used in speech for the first time ever - it just doesn't seem to exist in UK English.

My quilting achievement for this week was completing a pair of cushions started in the spring of 2014 - as you can see I had help!

Truly a Quilter in a Strange Land

Firstly, my apologies that there has been a ten month hiatus in this very intermittent blog.

Secondly, I have finally moved properly to the USA together with my sewing machines, fabrics, notions, patterns, magazines, books etc.!!!  I arrived on 6th August 2015 and the (second) container with all the (rest of the) stuff arrived exactly one week later and was unloaded (note, not unpacked) in 2 hours.  Since then we have been doing a lot of that unpacking and I have been hunting out the essentials so that I can use my sewing machines for the first time in well over a year!  During that year and a bit I have not been idle on the crafting front as I have been knitting for myself, my children, my grandchildren and friends.

The last fifteen months have been a long hard slog and the final 3 month stint in the UK was especially difficult as I frequently felt I was in the wrong place when family occasions and other events happened in Pennsylvania and elsewhere without me.  However, that is now over and I can move forward with our new life across the pond.  Being back together again as a family is a wonderful feeling.

During my stay in the US between mid-February and the end of April I was welcomed by the local quilters and spent some very pleasant Tuesday mornings knitting and chatting with them, I also found an evening drop-in knitting group at the local library and I am looking forward to rejoining both these groups as time permits.

Since my most recent arrival the weather was initially warm and sunny and a real treat for an Englishwoman I can assure you.  The fresh vegetables from the local farmers' markets were an eye-opener too, especially the sweetcorn, which was the best I have ever tasted. The last few weeks have been cooler with a few frosty nights, the leaves have largely fallen from our trees and autumn is well under way.

A sad note is that Rocky, our black cat, started to suffer from pancreatitis and despite the most valiant efforts of our new veterinarian we had to say farewell to him at the end of September.  Smokey continues to enjoy his new world, though he was not so confident when we stayed in a friend's place for a couple of days and decided that the highest place in the kitchen was the best vantage point!

Now I have got my sewing machine plugged in and running I can share the first quilted thing I have completed since I arrived here in the USA.

The pattern is available at http://lilysquilts.blogspot.com/2013/05/pam-kitty-tea-cosy-tutorial.html

Mostly moved....

Life got pretty busy after my last posting - both on a business & personal front but the container shipped in late September and I then managed a 10 day trip over to Pennsylvania in October and took the cats with me.  This is the story of how that trip went.

After booking my flight from Manchester to JFK I called customer services and made reservations for the 2 cats, to be paid at the airport on the day of travel. It is worth insisting and speaking to a supervisor if the first person you speak to claims they don't take animals.  In preparation the cats visited the vet a month in advance for microchips and rabies vaccinations, and then not more than 10 days before the flight another visit for the health and fitness to fly letter/certificate.

The morning of travel I woke up earlier than usual for our flight and let the cats out to do whatever cats do at 5am, then fed them a small breakfast and got them into their carriers. The carriers were labelled with the cats' names, chip numbers, flight number, ultimate destination address and our cell phone numbers.  I arrived at the airport 3 1/2 hours before the flight time and went to check in as normal with a trolley laden with suitcase and 2 cat carriers. The check in agent called down the pet check in agent who confirmed that the temperatures were fine for the cats and went through all the paperwork, I paid the fees for the cats and then weighed in the suitcase as normal baggage. The pet agent then escorted me and the cats through security, where I did have to open the carriers so they could be swabbed for testing! After security the cats and I went our separate ways and I was assured that their water bowls would be refreshed before loading.

I didn't actually see the cats being loaded onto the aircraft, but was assured they were on and "tied down" before I boarded. The flight was just as I like - blissfully uneventful.  On arrival at JFK I cleared immigration about 30 minutes after touchdown and then went to baggage claim, waited a few minutes for my suitcase and then a few more at oversize baggage for the cats. They were both fine and seemed quiet but awake and not at all distressed. Clearing customs was also straightforward, as usual. Some of the other passengers came over to see the cats before leaving, having seen them in the check in queue back in Manchester.

Then I met up with my husband for the first time in 2 months and drove home to PA via a route where I was able to see the Statue of Liberty. We stopped and rewatered the cats when we had a coffee and on arrival at our new home they came out of their carriers and explored every room, under every piece of furniture, inside every cupboard for the next couple of hours. I'm not sure whether my sons were more pleased to see their mum or their cats!

I promptly went down with a horrible cough & cold and spent most of my stay feeling pretty grim.  Work issues also reared their ugly head and had to be dealt with as soon as I returned to the UK.

The container was delivered a few days after I returned to the UK so husband and sons had the fun of unpacking it :-)

If I never see another packing peanut in my life it will be too soon....

The last few months of my life have been dominated by assessing our "stuff" in preparation for our move, sending some to the charity shop, putting some in the bin, leaving a little for my grandchildren to play with when they move into this house and packing the rest.

During the time I have come to the conclusion that we just have too much stuff (certainly we had too much stuff, we now have less!).  Unlike moving within driving distance there is no option to throw the last, unsorted, oddments into the car.  When packing your life into a 20' shipping container it is necessary to be ruthless and ask questions in the vein of the following:

• Do I really need it?
• Does it fit?
• Will it ever fit again?
• Will I ever wear it again?
• Have I ever worn it?
• Is it cheaper to buy a new one on the other side of the Atlantic?
• Will it even work on the other side of the Atlantic?
• Could someone else have more use/fun with this than me?
• Why have I still got this?

I have become good friends with the volunteers at my local Barnardo's shop - they greet me with a smile as I enter, offer to help me with my boxes and ask me if I am one of their gift aiders.

Some specific items have been donated to my younger son's scout group.  He has gained so much from his time there as a scout, explorer and young leader that I felt it was time to give something back.  This was also the same group where my daughter was a Brownie so they have been part of my life for getting on for 20 years!

Even after all the winnowing there is still enough to fill the container, and almost every box has been packed by yours truly, hence my surfeit of packing peanuts, bubble wrap, tissue paper, sticky tape and cardboard boxes. In particular the (free) banana boxes from my local supermarket.  In a few weeks they will wonder why the banana boxes are still under the checkouts at the end of the day.  I can now tell you what size bananas come from which countries (it is marked on the box) and that a box designed to hold 18kg or 40lb of bananas is also just right for holding 20kg of books.  Any more than that and I can't lift the packed box.

Of course, the only stuff to which the above questions are totally irrelevant are my sewing and quilting supplies.  I need every last thread, scrap and notion of my stash, whatever anybody else says or thinks.  All those boxes contain items vital to my creativity, even if I haven't opened them for years.

My main consolation after all this?  The shipping container should arrive at our new home several weeks before I do, so my husband and sons can do the unpacking!

And a couple more pictures of the cats:

Rocky pretends to be a box file

Smokey likes curling up in the empty boxes

Heading for a new life

Soon I will truly be a quilter in a strange land, but currently the strangeness is that the rest of the family (husband and 2 sons) have already moved to Pennsylvania, USA, leaving me behind in the UK for a few more weeks.  I would like to be able to say I am making the most of this "quiet" time by quilting to my heart's desire, but the reality is that I am doing the final packing up of our belongings both at home and at work. My thanks to John & John for all their help at the factory in moving the big stuff around for me and reducing my workload.

Aiding me at home are my two feline quilt inspectors (QIs), Smokey & Rocky, who think that every box is for them to sit in, every load of laundry for them to sleep in and that the main purpose of my existence is to feed them.

Smokey pretending that none of the chaos exists

Rocky in a rare sociable moment