Technical Difficulties

 Life in the Scrapatch is a rocky place right now,

but we are blooming as best be can.

Hope to be back soon ... :) 

I Like Thursday # 164 ~ The Scent of Spring

 

Good Morning!  

Today is ...

I Like Thursday @ Not Afraid of Color 

This week LeeAnna asked us to make a list of my favorite scents.

"Raindrops on roses ..."  immediately popped into my mind.

Yes, I do like the scent of roses ... and spring rain ...

and, well, then, raindrops on roses.

My roses are not blooming so I shall show a photo

of one of my favorite scented bushes that is blooming.  

This sweet and spicy scented bush has been blooming each spring

 in our yard as long as I can remember, which means the 1950s.

It is too cold today, almost freezing, so I cut a small bouquet

 and now it is perfuming my home.

It is my very favorite scent of spring.

Another favorite morning scent ... coffee.

The first whiff of coffee each morning is the one my hubby brews 

when he gets up to feed the kitties and get ready for work.  

My nose peeks out of the quilts each morning to this lovely aroma 

and my feet soon follow to the kitchen coffeemaker.

Today there was also the scent of fresh baked blueberry donuts

from a local shop to add to the lovey morning coffee scented air.

Mr. Scrapatch picked these up on his way to work 

and stopped back at home to drop this yummy treat off for me

 before he got on the highway.

This donut shop is a small local place 

and it is within walking distance to my home. It makes the best donuts.

I have saved the second donut which is lemon iced blueberry

for my afternoon tea break.

Time to stitch! 

This is my progress on hand stitching my crochet collage motifs to my pillow top.

Yesterday I was watching Mr. Harris go to Paris on my Ipad while I stitched.

This was a fun movie. I could almost smell the roses.

What should I watch next while I stitch. 

Katniss is keeping me company while she naps in the sunny window.

Katniss wishes to supply the "whiskers on kittens" part of the song

and is one of my favorite things, too. 

May your Thursday also be filled with lovely snacks and sounds and scenes and scents today!

Crochet Collage Garden ~ Pillow Cover Plan ~ 1st Stitches

Today I took the first stitches in turning my first

 Crochet Collage ~ Pillow Cover Plan

into reality. 

It is a gray and rainy day here today so my photos are shadowed.

I am using my old 12.5" square Quilters Ruler

and actually have the pices laid out on the back which has raised grips

that hold them in place while I am working.

I cut the fabric and a piece of Fusible Fleece into 19" squares

so that I have a wide border and plenty of fabric to make a pillow cover.

I am thinking I will add some large stitch quilting lines of sashiko threads 

around the outside of the center collage to frame it. 

I like to press fusible fleece to the back of appliqued pillow tops

 for a firm, smooth top surface.

I decided to start with the three large leaves on the bottom center.

My thread of choice is from these two Frosted Donuts of Superior Thread

pre-wound bobbins.  I never use these as actual bobbins.

I like to use them for applique, English Paper Piecing 

and sometimes binding threads.

My first leaf is appliqued.

This is back showing my messy stitching.

The top looks good, though... ;) 

I also made the first flower for my next crochet collage garden project

which I showed yesterday.

My flower does not look quite like the one in the book.

I think I sometimes forget to translate the English Crochet terminology

into USA terminology and make the wrong size crochet,

but I like it and it is a keeper.

I will make another or add applique another leaf or two tonight.

I hope your work week has started 

with a happy day of sewing and stitching!

 

 

Slow Sunday Stitching ~ This is the Plan

 

This is the layout for my first

Crochet Collage Garden Project

I am making a cover for a toss pillow.

I am getting ready to hand applique these motifs in place 

on the background fabric 

with a sewing needle and matching thread color.

Then the plan is to finish the edges with a white crochet edging.

Will post how-to when I figure it out as I go.

I bought this fabric at my favorite local quilt shop;

Melange 4506-607 Light Gray @ Bits'n'Pieces Quilt Shop

I think they have the complete line of this fabric

in their basics section in the back of the store.

You can order online; call if you need help.

I am already starting the plan my next project from this lovely book

from  Chris.made.this

Inspired by this fabric.

I am this slow crochet stitching.

Linking up today with

Slow Sunday Stitching @ Kathy's Quilts

May you have a happy week of stitching!

Sewing Machine Spa Day

 

Wednesday I hosted another Sewing Machine Spa Day

October 2019 Sewing Machine Spa Day

... as I have done in the past in this photo.

If you live in Rhode Island, Massachusetts or eastern Connecticut

and want to have a sewing machine spa day in your home,  call or contact ...

Antony also does sewing machine service repair days at quilt shops in this area.

Third Generation Repairman Anthony's Sewing Machine Service & Repair Provides Sewing Machine Service & Repair, In-Home Sewing Machine Repair Service, And Service For All Makes & Models Of Sewing Machines To The Lincoln, RI Area.

This is my friend Helen's 50 year old Sears Kenmore.

What a solid, heavy duty machine.

It is humming along like new after it's spa treatments.

You can see in the background of this photo how the shelves in my sewing corner 

are empty so they can be moved during our floor renovation project. 

Next up was my 20 year old Brother XR-65 machine

which has been in its box in one of my closets for the last 12 years.

I made many quilts on this machine and even quilted bed sized quilts on this baby.

How I did this with that 9-inch throat space is now a mystery to me.

For the last 12 years I have been using this workhorse off a machine ... 

my Janome MC600p.

I love this machine. 

I thought it might have had to go back to Anthony's Repair Shop 

to be taken apart and to have parts replaced

 and I was going to be using the XR-65 as a back-up machine.

The computerized parts of this machine have never given me any issues,

but mechanically it was not longer producing the perfect even stitches

 that I have come to expect.

Fortunately, Anthony was able to open up the tension unit

 and adjust it manually and it is working like a charm now.

My Janome is back under it's cover now 

and is going back into the other room for awhile 

so we can finish the home improvement project.

I hope to se sewing my Scrappy Irish Chain Quilt again soon.

So no Scrappy Saturday Sewing for me today.

So Sewing Machine Spa Day was a big success.

Oh, Happy Day!

May you have a happy and safe weekend!