Please excuse my prolonged absence from this blog. Who knew how much this ankle would keep me from sewing? Just look at Percy’s expression – he is almost as bored as I am with the process. Friday marked 15 weeks since I broke my ankle. Good progress is being made as I go to PT twice a week, and am now in my sneakers and using one crutch 90% of the time. Even more encouraging, I have been driving a golf cart and will try out my car this coming week. You must be able to brake quickly and my husband will tell me if I “pass the test”. But enough about this.
Pop Star Progress
I have been working on this quilt, Pop Star, designed by Sandra Walker of mmmQuilts! I have participated in all her Quilt Alongs since 2017; this was all cut out and ready to go when I had my accident. Although I am sad that I didn’t get it done for the parade of quilts, I am pleased to say that it is a top and will be quilted very soon. Some photos of the bits show up a little later in today’s blog.
Planview Progress
I finished this quilt, designed by Yvonne Fuchs of Quilting Jetgirl, in time to show it for the parade of quilts for her QAL. I didn’t quilt it right away, as I wanted to spend some time doing the individual pieces on my longarm, which meant designing some of it. Prostitcher is great, but some things I am still figuring out. I managed to do outlines inside a shape, fills inside a shape, and, designs in a shape. Now, I have to figure out if I want to do an Edge to Edge around the parts or something simple like horizontal lines…stopping and starting each time.
Although I am late to the party, I am calling this my One Monthly Goal.
The Alpaca Ironing Mat – Review
I received this wonderful Alpaca Ironing Mat on June 15th with the promise to offer a review on it. I was really honored to be asked, and I knew it would be a little before I got to review it.
First, I must say I loved the simple and elegant packaging – a beautiful ribbon with a picture of a few of the alpacas! This mat comes from Prairie Spirit Alpaca’s in Canada. Instantly, I was drawn to the way it feels; there is some life to it, maybe the spirit of these lovely animals.
To be truthful, I have another wool mat that I don’t really love…its dense and lifeless and it sometimes seems as though some part of it is burnt onto my iron (it was an unnamed brand that I bought). I have seen none of that with this mat…and saw it very early on with my other mat.
Furthermore, my alpaca mat works like a charm! The generously sized mat is 12″ x 18″, which is nice for larger units. You can see how the one below just fits perfectly on it.
I love the way the blocks are so flat after pressing. The heat really absorbs into the mat. The blue green fabric has a metallic coat and felt fussy but this mat handled it like a charm. And, select this button and you can download a care and feeding of your alpaca mat sheet!
I also love that this feels like a “local” purchase. OK, I am not at all physically close to this farm at all (it is in Alberta, Canada over 4000 km/2500 mi from Portland, Maine), but knowing that these animals are well loved and cared for just makes my heart sing! Just look at these picture. I like knowing there is a person behind the product….and alpacas, too!
To say that I love this mat, is an understatement. I thank Carmen from Prairie Spirit Alpacas and Gail from Quilting Gail who were the instigators and put a bunch of these out there for you to hear about. I am not an affiliate, but I do love this mat and highly recommend it.
At the moment, I am eyeing some socks, which happen to be on a sale, details on sizes follows (I couldn’t find it on the site and Carla responded in a split second…so here it is for you!
***Sock sizes: Small (W 5-6); Med (W 7-9, M 7-8) ; Large (M 9-11, W 10+) and Extra Large (M 11-13). [I am not an affiliate, but am purchasing some for me]
What’s Coming Up On My Blog?
I will be hosting Tips and Tutorials on the 22nd of the month as well as Finish it Up Friday on the 25th, 26 and 27th. Remember, I love seeing Tips and Tutorials so get yours ready for the end of the month through the 1st!
Besides the planned posts, I hope that you will see 2 finished quilts from me before the end of the month – Pop Star and Planview. I have a few little projects – some napkins and a few pillows that I hope to get to before mid-September when there is an art sale on the island and I will be displaying some things on my porch.
That’s all for now, hopefully it will be very soon that you will hear from me again!
