Snowcaught

Friday, July 15, 2022

Matthew's Quilt

My second-oldest nephew is my only nephew who does not yet have a quilt from me. Yet. I've been promising it for his birthday or Christmas for about four or five years now. I started Matthew's quilt three and a half years ago, not too long after I'd finished quilts for his sister's kids. Two of his sisters still need quilts of their own, and I have two more grown nieces who do not have quilts yet. And then I need to make quilts for my surviving sister and brothers... I am making progress when the list doesn't grow by two or three new babies per year!

I'd picked a quilt from Debby Kratovil's 2018 Block-a-Day Calendar, with replacement blocks from the 2017 edition. At the time, especially looking at the pastels in the calendar, I didn't want to make the Card Trick block because it wasn't masculine enough, in my opinion. Turns out it looks pretty awesome in Stonehenge.

I may still use a few blocks from the 2017 calendar, depending upon how big the quilt top will be when I finish the blocks from the 2018 pattern. For now, though, I'm happy with the way the quilt is turning out. Even though I got stumped once again by one of the rotary cutting diagrams. This isn't the first time one of the Block-a-Day patterns has made me wish I'd used Moda Blockhead patterns instead.

I may use up the booboo blocks in the backing. They did turn out nice. They are just too small. The last two times this happened to me with Block-a-Day calendars, both previous problems also were flying geese. To be on the safe side for the remainder of this quilt, I'm drafting my own patterns on paper before I cut fabric because I have only the one fat quarter bundle. I don't have enough fabric for more mistakes, although I am pulling a few pieces from Stonehenge precuts (different lines) left over from other projects for variety and because I'm almost out of the dark background fat quarter I've been trying to use for the background.

I'm also using my own color schemes for some blocks because I got this wacky idea when I began the quilt that working the blocks light to dark, center to edge, might look pretty awesome. I have one yard of one of the darker fabrics in the fat quarter bundle I initially thought would make a decent backing. Now I'm wondering if it might work as sashing, although it might be too close in hue to the dark block backgrounds. I'd been auditioning stash Stonehenge strips left over from other projects, but there isn't enough of any leftover strip color for a whole quilt. I've also considered doing a fancier sashing because Matthew seems more appreciative of detail than any of my other nieces and nephews.

I’ve even thought about making a wide border to use up all the leftovers when I’m done with the blocks. It’s fun to play around with options, and I’ll probably have even more fun on my design floor as I finish more blocks.

Linking up with Alycia Quilts.

Friday Fabulous

Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Lemonade

When I first realized on Friday that my blog had disappeared, I thought, well, okay, so I guess I don't have to blog anymore. That very pleasant realization lasted for nearly 10 minutes.

Maybe I needed this to happen so I could see that I'm truly not ready to walk away from my blog yet. There have been many times when I thought perhaps I've done enough. I've written enough patterns. I've shared enough photos. I've spent way too much time on the computer.

But deep down inside, I really do enjoy blogging. I enjoy the challenge of trying to finish a new snowflake pattern each week. I enjoy the challenge of trying to finish my quilting WIPs. I really enjoy sharing photography, even though I've really cut back on other forms of social media, due to lack of time.

There was a time when I dreamed of writing a novel that was popular enough, it would be made into a movie. I dreamed of paying off all my extended family's debts. I dreamed of buying a vacation home I could invite my family to each year for a reunion. Shoot, I still dream of going back to The Wave one day...

I should do this same shot with colors of the wave...

I still think it would be cool to write a very popular novel, but I don't have time to devote to the ones in progress, and I don't dare start anything new. I would still love to pay off all my extended family's debts, especially my mom's loan to bury my dad. If I get a windfall in the next couple of years, I will pay that off because I just wish my mom didn't have to take out that loan. I would still love to see my family for something other than a funeral. And I still want to go back to The Wave. And Yellowstone. And the Tour de Lavender...

But life the way it is right now is dictating my priorities. And I'm okay with that. Friends and neighbors are continually asking if they can sit with Lizard for a while so I can take a break for me. I so appreciate the offers, but I enjoy my time with Lizard. Neither of us enjoys what Parkinson's has done to him or our life, but we love each other, and I don't feel the need right now for me-time.

I still love to write, and blogging gives me that opportunity. Even though my daily readership has gone down dramatically. I have about 15 regular readers these days. I have about three daily readers, although that's gone down by one now. My dad read my blog every day. So now, I'm down to two daily readers.

So I guess for now, I'll keep blogging. Because I can. That doesn't mean my old blog has been rescued... My hosting provider is still working on it. I'm wondering if my blog has been hacked again because the hosting provider doesn't know why certain changes were made, and I certainly didn't do it!

So, I will keep blogging for now. I will copy my new posts to Snowcaught. (Can you believe the first word I thought of when I set up a substitute blog was available?!? Holy cow! How awesome is that?!?) And if this problem continues, I may try to start moving my snowflake patterns to Snowcaught, too. But it will be a slow process. There are nearly 800 patterns. If I was able to move one a day, it would take me more than two years just to do the patterns.

But you know what I CAN do??? I CAN cry 800 tears! I CAN crochet 800 yards of white thread. I'm pretty sure every single quilt has at least 800 stitches. And I CAN hug Lizard 800 times! Just not any of the above all at one time...

Monday, July 11, 2022

Snowflake Monday

A good many years ago, my blog was hacked while Lizard and I were attending the funeral of his brother. I think it took three days back then to clear up all the problems.

Last month, I attended the funeral of my father, and last week, my blog disappeared. This time, it took roughly three hours for me to figure out why every single published post disappeared, while I could still access and edit the posts via Blogger.

I tried different browsers on different devices. I checked my account with my hosting service, which was up-to-date. And I tried using Window's diagnostic tool, which (unsurprisingly) was no help at all.

I reached out to the Blogger Help Community, which could take up to 24 hours, if you get a response at all (what's up with that?!?), and decided that wasn't going to solve the problem.

I was able to access Lizard's blog (which hasn't been updated in quite a while), as well as Alycia Quilts and Mr. Micawber's Recipe for Happiness (sadly, the only blog addresses I could remember without links), so I deduced the problem probably wasn't Blogger.

I set up a new holding tank on Blogger where I could transfer all... geez, 3,528 published blog posts if I wasn't able to find a resolution. I would have to go through each post and change any self-directing links. So, probably 2,000 or more links. I cried. There is no way I will ever have time for that! However, I did move the two most recent posts, and I copied this post to the new blog, Snowcaught. Which is where you might be able to find me if this ever happens again.

I did web searches and learned Blogger was not down and my web host was not down, among other non-helpful trivia.

After exhausting chat searches on Blogger, I decided to do a chat with a tech via my web host. 45 minutes later, I was informed my DNS had not properly renewed on the server's end. The change was made (not by me; I don't even know what that means, really), and I was promised my Snowcatcher website would be back online within 48 hours.

As a result of this experience, I've decided no one else in my family can die. And I hope you will understand from whence the name for this week's flake came. Nothing like finding out you don't want to lose your blog by losing your blog. Can you believe I passed on naming my flake after today's obvious moniker??? Oh, thank heaven...

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 3.5 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

SPECIAL STITCHES:

Popcorn Stitch (pc)

Work 5 dc in designated st, take loop off hook, insert hook through top loop of 1st dc and replace loop on hook, pull loop through top of 1st dc.

Splat Snowflake Instructions

Make magic ring.

Round 1: [1 pc in ring, ch 8], 6 times, sl st in starting pc to form 6th ch 8 tip of Round. Don't pull magic circle too tight.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 2: [4 sc in next ch 8 tip, (ch 12, 1 sc in same tip) 5 times, 3 sc in same tip] 6 times; sl st in starting sc; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

Friday, July 8, 2022

Friday Fabulous

Thursday, July 7, 2022

WIP Wonder

I'm down to 13 WIPs!!! 13 is my lucky number!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wasn't sure this would EVER happen! If I finish one extra project this quarter, I could be down to single digits by autumn!!!

I finished Venetian Squiggles at 9:53 p.m. Thursday, June 30, the final hour of the Ravelry Spring Quarter WIP challenge, making me, once again, Queen of the Last Minute. I truly wasn't planning to steal the crown once again; I lost about 14 days in June I may have spent sewing and/or quilting when I lost my dad. Probate stress really stoked my hunger to create and to finish a project. If it hadn't been for my Sweet Ringo's perpetual tension temper tantrums, I might have finished this quilt a few hours earlier. I think my Simply 16 may be due for a timing checkup. After all, I think I've had it nearly four years now...

Back in 2010, I took photos of the shadows of my blinds on the fleece blanket I hung to cover the window and seal in heat and seal out winter cold. Two years later, I played with some of those photos in Photoshop. A lot!

I got the bright idea to have one of the resulting masterpieces printed on fabric via Spoonflower. I should have illustrated on paper my initial inspiration to turn the small panel into a larger quilt. The designs that flooded my mind when I received the fat quarter have completely faded. When I began working on the quilt last month, I could not remember what I was going to do, other than create rainbow-colored strips that might echo the original straight lines of the blinds. I was forced to come up with new ideas. I pulled out all my Kona solids stash and tried to match the colors in the panel as close as I could.

I cut or pieced 1.5-inch strips from the 12 colors I picked, using up every single inch of three leftover colors from quilts gone by. Then I just started making striped fabric without a real plan. I ended up using a bunch of tiny little pieces, which was fun, challenging and mind-clearing. I needed that. I'm prety happy with my final design. I really had high hopes for this quilt!

The backing was created from leftovers of the colors I used on the front. I used up every single black strip but one! And I used up almost all of the tiny pieces of the colors. I loved how the back looked when I finished it, and I'm really kicking myself in the pants for not snapping a photo of it before I, well, ruined it.

I got in some really great quilting practice once I finally got the tension vomit cleared up. Quilting was complete in about two and a half hours, and oh, how I couldn't wait to show off this masterpiece!

Then I pulled the quilt off the frame. I nearly broke down and cried. I think tears actually would have fallen had I not already drawn heavily upon the saltwater reserves during the last month. The quilt back has viscious folds. I sat down with the quilt on my lap for a few minutes, studying the horrible mess on the back, wondering how I could fix it. I think there was but an hour remaining of the alloted WIP challenge. If I ripped out all the stitching, it would take me a week or longer. If it left it as is, it would be a frustrating reminder to make sure my quilt sandwiches are flat. Maybe I was too excited to get this one on the frame, then with all the tension delays, I just let the fabric slip or something??? I don't know. But I was horrified, and too tired to fix it. I decided I could buy another fat quarter next time they go on sale and try again. I've worked up a little plot in my head to make color-matching go a little more smoothly.

I decided this quilt doesn't have to be gifted or given away. It can be a lap quilt for me when I'm feeling down. I'm hoping the mistakes later will make me giggle. I decided if there ever is a contest with the "Finished is Better than Perfect" theme, this one would be a clear winner. And, if I don't look too close, like, from maybe 100 or 200 feet, I don't even see the booboos!

On July 4, I made a few firecrackers of my own and uploaded Photoshop versions of my quilt to Spoonflower. Yes, this means I'll eventually have more WIPs when I'm trying to have fewer, but the quilt top turned out so well, how could I not play some more in Photoshop???