Madame Purl » Salon News

Guess who is 1 today!

Madame Purl — Sat, 19 May 2012 03:50:30 +0000

That’s right, Miss Violet.

Our tiny lion.

She had a very happy birthday today. Getting ready for a little cleaning after a snack and drink.

A Few Leap Year Whiskers

Madame Purl — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 12:00:04 +0000

It’s been awhile since a Whisker on Wednesday post…

We’ve got lots of things in the works. Poor Daisy needs to see a leg specialist. Something appears not right on the x-ray. Maybe a piece broken off the bone. We got an appointment at the end of March at the vet school.

Lily is going to see a vet next week who has done lots of Persian sinus surgery. It’s just a consultation, but if she is eligible I’m thinking it’s going to get done.

Sweet Pea is getting a teeth cleaning next week. She’s following Emma and Charlie to the dentist this month. The vet extended the dental month discount into the first week of March… yeah! Gives me time to get everyone sorted.

Brother The Third – PQ1500s

Madame Purl — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:50:21 +0000

So if you’re keeping count this is really the 4th, but I hot handed off that Viking to get the Horizon and never looked back. It wasn’t a bad little machine, but we just didn’t bond.

I sat down and sewed on Faygo Kitty Machine… which my Mother has insisted we call them… these may be what I call grief gifts. You know.. the “Oh well fell better if we get ourselves a little something.” She also got one and we instantly bonded to our new lovely machines.

There are just too many things I love about this machine. One is the stitching. It makes a beautiful stitch. It’s a straight stitch only machine. It does one thing and does it really well.

Next is the fact my fabric is not randomly ate at random intervals by menacing feed dogs. Next is no stinking mess on the back of my sewing from the bobbin thread. It starts and it stops right away, no extra stitch.

Finally it’s has a solid foot like the Bernina’s, which I think gives them the edge in piecing. It also has POWER… can take a seam with lots of nesting seam pieces with a blink of the eye. No shooting off to the side, no balking — just blazing a trail right over them. Love that! It has needle up and down and a push button stitch cutter and it was cheaper than my 3160QDC. Amazing.

So far I’m amazed at how awesome my quarter inch seams are coming out. Really there must be a lot of play in the feet on my Janome machines as I always seem a little short – with this lovely creation I’m either bang on or a little bit big, which I like because then I can square up the ugly bits. So meet my new favorite…

RIP Faygo 1-8-2012

Madame Purl — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 01:11:27 +0000

Ascension
And if I go,
while you’re still here…
Know that I live on,
vibrating to a different measure
–behind a thin veil you cannot see through.
You will not see me,
so you must have faith.
I wait for the time when we can soar together again,
–both aware of each other.
Until then, live your life to its fullest.
And when you need me,
Just whisper my name in your heart,
…I will be there.

The Lily Bath Chronicles

Madame Purl — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 02:44:08 +0000

Poor girl needed yet another bath. She is having issues and isn’t feeling very well right now, so not just a bath, but a dose of icky banana flavored medicine (2x a day for a week…little does she know right now).

Really? I can't believe you went and got the camera.

I'm ignoring you and that camera...

"oh the humility"

I am so going to get you for this.

Happy 2012!

Madame Purl — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 01:52:14 +0000

Let’s hope it’s a good one…

I decided I only have one goal this year. Yes, while I have a zillion things on the to-do list and many more waiting in the wings, the only thing that is an absolute must do in 2012 is to finish the Famer’s Wife top. I’m determined to get there and I’m making good progress. It’s even starting to go together.

Here are some more blocks. I don’t have quite enough to get another row next. Hopefully soon.

Finishing Up 2011

Madame Purl — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 07:42:56 +0000

So last day of the year… just a small wrap up, as I’ve been busy as ever working on projects and trying to check things off the list.

I finished two bags for friends for Christmas prezzies.

Here’s the insides… one in beige and one in gray.

I also managed to finished the foundation paper piecing mat and get it done, quilted with some red metallic thread, and bound.

Up close of those tiny little pieces.

Finally… picked up some new wall art… indulging my quilting sense.

Sister’s Choice on the left, Dutch Rose in the middle, and a LeMoyne Star on the right.

Also appears my Flickr plug-in has broken with this latest WordPress update… hope they get that fixed soon, but you can see higher quality photos always at my Flickr page here. Hate having to scale back my photos. There does seem to be a few changes in this latest edition of WP that I’m not too crazy about. I’m hoping that smooths itself over soon.

Farmer’s Wife

Madame Purl — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 04:40:42 +0000

I signed up at one of my LQS to do a Farmer’s Wife quilt along. I had a chance to pop over to the store today to pick up supplies. I want to do this in reproduction fabric, but alas I had none in my stash. Poor me… it required stash enhancement. I wanted to get this done early since I have another class that day that I will be running late to – talk about a little over scheduling. It’s hard to be in two places at once.

I was told we would be doing 6-8 blocks a session. I somehow managed to grab 42 different prints. I’m thinking this will give me good start and I can post my progress in a few weeks here. I am thinking I may need a few more greens, reds and golds as I go. I seem to be fine in the lights, blues, browns and purples.

I stopped to pick up a tote to keep all these supplies together. Daisy thought it was for her and was really not pleased when I told her she would relinquish it to the fabric.

If you like the Farmer’s Wife – did you know a new book is coming out this fall. The Farmer’s Wife Pony Club. I was reading through the website and this one looks like a pre-order. I’ll be making this one next. I *heart* samplers.

Updating

Madame Purl — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 12:20:04 +0000

So I took last week off and decided to do some house upkeep. One of the things I wanted to do was to re-paint and fix up the front. Since we got the new white windows I found the beige to be… well… beige.

Here’s the before…

Here’s the after with some lovely red. I think it looks way more inviting and cheery.

I have to still make a few touch-ups this week, but I’m happy to cross this off the list.

Library Finds

Madame Purl — Tue, 24 May 2011 11:20:53 +0000

So after donating 4 bags of books last week for the library sale, I couldn’t help myself and went to the library book sale. I had a good purge. It was time to browse. I sometimes find really useful books and for $5 for a paper grocery bag full – it’s hard to resist.

Here we have some of my finds…that old Simplicity Sewing Book – well what a gem.

That Dress one is really interesting – the costuming guild put it out and has the patterns drawn out for some traditional costuming.

Some old school, traditional Lopi – never can go wrong there.

Then I don’t know what I was thinking… but this just looked interesting. Maybe I will find someone who needs a boy’s Civil War costume at some point. Patterns inside too.