Shopping Booty

My husband and I went away for a weekend with my sister-in-law to Fort Erie, Ontario this weekend. L has bought a new home – as in new to her – with the intention of fixing it up. My husband is an electrical engineer, not an electrician but he does know the basics of wiring a house and how much electrical load should be on the breakers, wires etc, etc, more than I know. What I know is if you’re going to buy a century old home with the idea of fixing it up to make a profit or even to just get your money back out of it…well…don’t bother unless you’ve fallen in love with the location and said house.

 I suppose having said that there is no profit to be made in buying an older house that there are exceptions to the rule such as location, lot size, type of house etc but if the lot isn’t that great, the house unspectacular then chances are you’re going to be spending a lot of money without a great return on your investment when you go to resell the house in a couple of years. (There was a movie made about this, I believe it was called the Money Pit)

What I learned this weekend is that it’s really hard to re-wire a house that has plaster walls and has been wired not according to code and the wires are running hap-hazardly across the ceiling and walls. In other words my hubby and SIL’s boyfriend spent most of the weekend trying to figure out which wire was which (yes they did have a wiring diagram but had to test every line to see which breaker it was on etc). In all my husband managed to re-wire a ceiling fan and that was it. The house does have a few more holes in it then it did before such as when they figured it was better to run a wire under the house in the crawl-space and up the floor only to crawl under the house and find out the crawl-space was flooded (standing in water to put in an electrical connection is “not” a good idea). Did I mention the house has no eavestroughs? I realise now in a big way why houses have eavestroughs. I could go on and on about this house.

I don’t think I fully realised before this weekend how careful you have to be when wiring new circuits into an existing system. You might think that if you over-loaded a circuit then the breaker would just trip but I found out that you can have a scenario where there is too much of a load and the breaker doesn’t trip. What you then have is a wire that gets very hot and can cause an electrical fire.  I believe this is what happens when people plug in mutiple extension cords into one outlet and fires start. I have to admit to being one of those persons who doesn’t think about it and just plug in to the wall and figure if it works it works and if it doesn’t it doesn’t.

Anyhow, long story sort, while the boys were busy trying to install outlets us two girls went cross-border shopping as the Peace bridge was five minutes from the house. I managed to hit JoAnn’s and buy some goodies or booty if you will while my SIL bought stuff at the Bed and Linen while I was getting my loot. (The Peace bridge is the crossing from Canada into the United States for those not knowing) Material is cheaper in the States for the most part although I noticed there isn’t quite the descrepancy in prices for items as last time I visited, maybe because our dollar is almost on par this time around.

The stash in it’s entire glory.

Fabric to make crayon rolls for the church kids at Christmas.

Stash fabric for quilts.

Oriental fabric bundles and geometric bundle – fat quarters.

Side view of above.

Flannel for possible pj’s or quilt and some fusible fleece for future projects.

Plastic template kit to use with a rotary cutter for a wedding quilt I’m contiplating making for my daughter who’s marrying in September. The cashier graciously gave me 50% off as I didn’t have a coupon being from across the border. I thought she was splendid because I wasn’t expecting it and it’s an example of one small kindness that made my day.

Back of template kit giving you an idea of what’s going on.

Plastic bin, thread in basic colours, quilting needles and replacement rotary cutter blades.

The Gutermann thread was a good deal at half the price for the larger size. I picked out some basic colours that you always need plus I bought the reds, greens and gold for the Christmas fabric that I’d bought at the beginning of the year so I’m pleased. Funnily enough one of my favorite purchases was the little plastic bin, which is a nice size for keeping the bits and bobs together off my working surfaces. It only cost $3 dollars so it goes to show you that the things that make you happy in life are not necessarily expensive.

 Karen

Not Impressed!!!

I bought a new serger about a year and a half ago from the local fabric store. Part of the deal of buying any new machine is that you are entitled to the free lessons each month as being an owner of that machine so in my case the serger club.

 I have to admit that I never did go to any of these once a month deals because I just never got around to it but recently I found out from a friend that she also went to these classes and she talked me into going with her to this month’s class. I thought why not I wouldn’t mind going together and having a girl bonding experience so I signed up for the class, which was making a purse using decorative thread with the serger.

Now the draw back to taking these “free” classes is that all materials must be bought from the store…let me emphasize that “all”. I knew that the fabrics in this store were on the pricey side but…ka-ching. By the time I got through buying all of the supplies this cute little purse cost me $54.00. I just finished buying purses on the cruise that were authentic Guess purses one of which was solid leather with hardware that was $79.00.

“Oh well, you can get two purses out of the material if you’re careful” the hostess instructed. Do I want two purses that look the same I ask myself? Charge me half the price and give me one.

 My friend and I were on time for the class, which started at 1:00 and we walk upstairs only to find we are the last two to arrive and that we’re scrambling to find empty machine space because all of the other girls are already there and set up. Not only are they set up but they’ve threaded their machines and for the most part cut out their material and are now busy sewing happily away.

So meanwhile I’m feeling like the dumb bunny because in their wisdom the store owners don’t give out the instruction kit ahead of time. Why you ask? Well because they have to collect the $5.00 for the instruction kit – what part of “free class” haven’t I understood so far? So everyone has started ahead and the hostess is looking at me like I haven’t a clue, which I admit I haven’t considering I haven’t looked at said instructions.

Now I admit to being a slow sewer/crafter. I’m not the type of person who can rush ahead at anything otherwise I make mistakes and point of case my friend who just jumped right in made several mistakes. I’m not going all righteous here because I did a few of my own just pointing out most people can’t rush.  Very early on I realised I was not going to finish on time and this wasn’t a competition so I might as well go at my own speed. (Side note: Has anyone tried to thread their serger machine under pressure? It doesn’t work)

This class made me realise why I don’t do classes, I hate them. As far as I was concerned I might as well have taken the instructions home and done it there because this was not enjoyable for me.  So here I am in the class not getting much done in the two hours knowing most of the work is going to be done at home, the social bonding experience with my friend was pointless as I spoke very little to her and then the added knowledge that I’d paid $54.00 for a purse that although it looked pretty was in no way practical since it maybe holds some kleenex and a couple of credit cards. There was the added sting because I handdye my own fabric and I have decorative threads. I could have cut the costs considerable if the store was more lenient about the supply policy but I guess that’s why they’re a thriving business.

The one useful thing I learned from the class? The serger did make some nice seams with the $8.00 (times two) coloured thread. (I have some really nice coloured thread from threadart I bought for $2.00 spool).

Front of purse.

Back of purse.

Inside lining.

Inside pocket.

So JoAnn if you’re reading this, I love you but from here on in you’re on your own doll.

Karen

Internet Dye specials

Well I’ve done the rest of the gradations on the dyes I recently purchased from ProChem. The Internet specials were, Lavender Mist, Winter Sky, Fawn and Chocolate Milk.

ProChem’s Internet special Winter Sky.

ProChem’s Internet special Fawn.

ProChem’s Internet special Chocolate Milk.

ProChem’s Internet special Lavender Mist.

Well I didn’t know when I was mixing up the Winter Sky whether or not it was a purple or a grey, turns out it was a grey or maybe even a black. The measurements I use for each colour group are different and I use four times as much dye for greys and blacks as I do for the purples so I’m not quite sure what I would have gotten had I used the greater amount of dye. However the buzz word for this year seems to be serendipity and the greys I got were very nice. I thought that there was a bit of a purple cast to them but I think it depends on what lighting you’re seeing the fabric in. The fabric dyed a nice solid colour without a breakdown into components that sometimes you get with low-water-immersion so I’m pleased.

The Chocolate milk was just plain weird. I used quite a bit of dye mixing this one up because it’s a brown and it seemed like I was forever changing the rinse water because the brown kept coming out. I guess you’d call this chocolate milk if you were skimping on the syrup. The closest match I could get to this one was Old Rose except that it was a much paler version. Interesting because again the brown was four times the amount of dye that I used for the Old Rose sample but came up paler. If you look in  the intense sunlight you do see a bit of a pinkish cast to the material but when I asked my husband what colour he thought it was he said taupe.

The fawn turned out to be a really nice colour but it did break down into it’s components so a lot of rusts, greys and ecru’s. When I compared it to my other samples I came up with Chino which was kind of neat because I don’t have that dye. It was Chino but at half the strength…you can see where this is going.

The Lavender Mist was quite nice and as soon as I saw it I thought Eggplant and sure enough Eggplant is the closest match I had in my sample book; this is not to say that something else wouldn’t match better but it’s all I have so if you’re wondering what to compare, think Eggplant purple but at half the concentration.

Since a lot of the dyes seems to be half the intensity it made me wonder, maybe it was a user error but probably not. I could have done without the Chocolate Milk but I’m not really into the skin-tone browns but someone else might really go for that colour. The Fawn was nice but I’m not sure what I’d use that one for because again I’m not into browns but it’d probably be nice in autumn colours. The winter sky wasn’t exciting at the strength that I applied but it did make some really nice neutral greys, which I wouldn’t hestitate to use so it’s probably the most useful dye of the bunch. The lavender was very nice but I already have Eggplant so I’m not too excited. The Dusty Pink from the day before was nice and I’m getting low on Berry and I could substitute this one for that. Which leaves me with the bark which is a very nice brown at full strength.

Hope this gives some idea to those who might be considering buying the Interent specials, at $2.95 a jar its not that big an investment but it could save people some time.

Karen

Happy Easter

Just like to wish everyone a Happy Easter and a joy-filled celebration with your families.

 I received my order from ProChem yesterday so since I ordered six of the Internet specials I thought I’d post them so others will have a bit of a clue what they look like.

 I think (I could be wrong) that the Internet specials are dye lots that didn’t quite meet the ProChem specifications for their standard colour chart. So they rename these dyes and sell them at a reduced price to the public. It’s very much like a goody bag in that you don’t really know what you’re getting but the fun is in finding out. I always do a gradation on the dyes and then try and match them up to see what dye they were going for.

I have done two and have another four batching at the moment. The two I have done are Dusty Pink and Bark.

ProChem’s Internet special Dusty Pink.

ProChem’s Internet special Bark.

For the Dusty Pink I used twice the concentration I normally use for a red dye because I didn’t want a washed-out wussy colour. The dye reminded me of something I’d already done and sure enough I think the closest match is Rosewine with Berry coming a close second. The Rosewine has a bit of a grey tinge to it and the Dusty Pink has this grey tinge as well but just a slightly darker value than the Rosewine. In other words the Rosewine is a brighter pink.

The bark was a very nice colour at it’s darkest value. The medium and light grades didn’t appeal to me as much. I don’t know what colour this compares to as I don’t have a great many browns from ProChem.

It’ll be interesting to see what the other colours turn out like. I have two more browns, a purple and a winter sky, which I thought was a purple but might be a grey or black. 

I’ll post pictures of the rest of the gradations tomorrow if I have time. My daughter is coming tomorrow and a group of us will be heading into Toronto to pick out material for bridesmaid dresses for her wedding in September. I’m not quite sure how long that whole business will take. I think I’m supposed to fit in an Easter dinner somehow in there. Beats me how I’m going to get home in time to stick the roast in the oven and fix all of the trimmings. I am Mother, hence Super Woman.

 Karen

Finished Room

Well I finally finished Jon’s room yesterday (the closet). We had company come for overnight and I made the final effort to tidy his room. I can now say that from being the messiest room in the house, it’s now the cleanest.

Jon’s room view 1.

Jon’s room view 2.

So finally after all these months its done. Now I have to start working on the rest of the house.

Karen

Nested Round Robin – Rectangle border.

The first border for the nested round robin was to use complementary colours and rectangles or squares. I chose purple and yellow as my two complimentary colours and I decided to use rectangles as my shape.

Rectangular border – click to enlarge photo.

I had originally decided to try a bargello border but realised that the border would end up being on the large side so I decided that I would join all of the strips together and go around and around the centre block so I would end up with a border of random strips.

Karen

Revamped Round Robin Centre.

Well after contemplating my center for the nested round robin quilt I decided to take apart the four blocks.

Centre block before taking it apart.

My problem with the centre block was that the edges were too rough and unbalanced and I was going to have serious problems trying to get the edges aligned with the next round’s border; this aside from having major nips of the end star points. I was going to just leave it as it was and just deal with it but when it came down to it the whole thing was just too wonky.

What I decided to do was to take apart the four blocks and surround each block with a border. My reasoning for this was that if I needed to trim to make the blocks more balanced then it would be easier to take it out of the border than the actual block. As it turned out with the minor fudging of putting on the borders everything seemed to work out. You note I said “seem”, I guess I’ll find out when I attach the next border.

Centre block after putting on borders.  Click on picture to enlarge.

Karen

Mount W….

Well yes I am paranoid so instead of posting the full name we’ll just go with Mount W for now. Anyhow what is Mount W? 

John with his creation and yes it is as tall as he is. Snow from shovelling the driveway.

What can I say, we did indeed get a lot of snow but…it’s all starting to melt once again. Apparently the hubby informs me that this year comes second to some year in the 1930s for most amount of snow fallen during the winter. It does seem like we’ve had a lot of snow but because of the milder temperatures a lot of it has melted between the snow falls otherwise we’d be up to our ears. I can only hope that this means the water tables will be higher this year.

Anyhow a few more pictures of material as you all know I couldn’t resist playing with the new snow.

Strong Orange and Lemon Yellow (too orange for my tastes)

Island blue, Desert Green, Lemon Meringue and Sapphire. Same dyes as previous post but applied with a very heavy hand so hence a darker piece. Interesting thing about this piece is that the purple you see is actually from the sapphire blue.

Bronze and Rose Wine. Very, very nice piece if I do say so.

Lemon Yellow and Boysenberry. This photo doesn’t do the fabric justice as in real life the fabric is boring and blah.

I might try one more piece (yeah, yeah you say) before calling it quits. I’m kind of interested in seeing how a black and blue might look. I’d tried using black in my first piece but it didn’t really work out but then that was the piece where I just scooped up the dyed snow and placed it on the fabric. I have a feeling the black will turn out grey but it might be worth the effort. I know for a fact that boysenberry and lemon yellow gives a really nice orange but it didn’t turn out that way in the snow dyed piece so you can’t really predict these things.

Karen

And more snow…

Having said that the snow storms that we’ve experienced this winter haven’t been as bad as the ones of my youth, of course mother nature had to go and make a liar out of me. It’s been snowing since 2:00 pm yesterday and today is 5:00 pm and no sign of stopping plus lots of nasty wind thrown in there as well.

I’m very sick of snow by now…

I’ve been doing lots of snow dyeing to try and make lemonade out of lemons but still I’ve sort of reached my saturation point.  The good thing I guess is that this will help the water table come spring, at least I hope it will. After reading about drought in Australia and temps of 38 degrees Celsius I can’t really complain. (Well I can but who wants to listen?)

Karen

Another day, more dyeing.

Cool…somehow when I went to edit my latest blog when I hit the save button it disappeared. At risk of repeating myself…below are a couple of pictures of fabric that I dyed yesterday.

The first piece is aqua, island blue (A ProChem internet special, which looks like aqua almost) , sapphire and lemon meringue. The second piece is bronze and sapphire blue.

Aqua snow dye.

Bronze snow dye.

In my previous post, which I edited and lost I mentioned that this would be the last of the snow dyeing pieces because the snow was all melting. Little did I know, 8 hours later, that we’d be in the midst of another snowstorm, oh well…I’m sure spring is just around the corner somewhere.

Karen