Enders and Leaders

Happy Easter!
As I was sitting at my computer early this morning and surfing the web, I came across a video from Sunshower Quilt Blog.

I love this idea of sewing a useful shape as an "ender and leader". I usually just use a tiny piece of scrap fabric. This is a great idea. I guess it has been around for awhile, but it is new to me. And since I already have the 2" die for my GO cutter, I guess it is time to open it up and use it.

Of course, you could rotary cut any size square from your leftovers and get a head-start on another project.
I am also thinking of making Half-Square triangles with my Stitching Lines as enders and leaders. I guess any shape could work.

Three Leather Flower Pots

I made this little wall-hanging this morning. The appliques are all leather. Jill and I have made some little kits to sell at quilt shows.

More Notebooks

Look at what I did on Friday. These are becoming way too much fun to make. I think I finally have the dimensions down in writing. Now, I should be able to make one from start to finish, without taking apart and resewing each time. That's a pain!
Sorry, the photos are bad. Needed to use my phone as I can't find the charger for my camera.

Parallelogram- A New Shape

I discovered a new shape that I could make with my Stitching Lines.
It's a parallelogram and it couldn't be easier to construct.

I used a 3-1/2" x 6-1/2" brown rectangle and (2) 3-1/2" white squares.
I placed the first square on one corner of the brown rectangle.
I placed the trimmed Stitching Lines strip so that the dotted line on the right side lined up with the corners of the white square and stitched on the dotted line.
Then I stitched on the other dotted line and ripped off the paper.


Next, I placed the second white square on the opposite corner, just like if I was making a Flying Geese rectangle.
I placed the Stitching Lines strip parallel with the first stitching, lining up the left dotted line with the corners of the white square and stitched. I stitched on the second dotted line and ripped off the paper.

I cut apart between both sets of stitched lines and pressed the seams.




And what I got was one parallelogram rectangle and two half-square triangles.

A parallelogram could be any length. Mine just happens to be a finished 3" x 6".
Just make sure the small squares are the same width as the width of the rectangle.

This is where I put all my used up Stitching Lines. And no, as so many customers at shows have asked, you can't reuse them. But I do recycle this with my newspaper. Well, actually, you could reuse the center strip that you tear out, if you are making a snowball corner and only need one stitching line. See this post where I show how.

A to Z About Me

I found this on Why Knot. Make sure to visit Wendy's blog.

It's fun to find out interesting or mundane things about each other.

There may be some things here that you could care less about, but hey, it's the ABC's!

If you could copy these and fill in your own info, then post and let me know, I would love to read your own unique facts. I changed up a few letters. You can too!

Age: 59 and holding
Bed Size: King
Chore I Dislike: Vacuum the stairs
Dogs I have loved: Tess (of course, she is sitting right next to me), Buffy and Sundy. Sometimes I loved Katie, but not always. And I was never crazy about my black dog, and oh my, I can't even remember her name. LOL
Easiest Job in the house: Doing the dishes
Favorite Color: Teal Blue
Gold or Silver: Gold
Height: 5'3" My legs are way too short!
Instruments I have attempted to play: Piano, but only for about 10 months
Job Title: Wife, Mother, Homemaker, Pattern Designer
Kids: Two girls, one son, one son-in-law, and a soon to be grandchild
Live: Southern California, a native and I have always lived here
Married: 37 years this August
Nickname: Always wanted "Mare", never got it
Overnight Hospital Stays: 3 for kids, 1 for tonsils, 3 for getting hit by a car, while walking across the street
Pet Peeves:Politics
Quilts I Have Made: Too many to count and no place to put them
Right or Left Handed: Right, completely and utterly
Sibblings: 3 Brothers, 1 Sister
Time I Wake Up: Every day, Thank you God!
Underwear: Certainly not boxers!
Veggie I Dislike: Most
What Makes Me Run Late: Sewing
X rays I Have Had: Very few. I have never broken anything.
Yummy Food I Make: I am not a great cook. Can't think of anything my kids would ever ask me to make! How sad!
Zoo Animal I Like Best: Tigers. They look so soft and sweet! But, oh how deceiving!

Looking forward to reading some of your ABC's!

Garden Story

There is not much that grows profusely in my garden.

Once in awhile, I plant something that thrives. A couple of geraniums have spread way beyond their expectations, a beautiful plant that has red leaves has grown and thrived in spite of me and just recently, some little miniature bottle brush seem to be fighting for their lives, spurting out red blossoms each year. The palm trees grow tall, the grass grows tall and the weeds grow tall. Not much else.

One plant, though, has stuck with me, through thick and thin, through drought and rain. I haven't killed it yet and I don't think I can.

It's a plain old spider plant! My mother-in-law gave it to me in 1974. It's gone from house to house to house, had green leaves and brown leaves, been neglected and felt dejected and still lives on.


It has a whole family of spiders that have fled the coop and set up housekeeping elsewhere!
It has so many spiders, that I started putting little pots down by the base, and the spiders started growing in the new pots. So easy to propogate!



Last year, I finally re-potted the plant.
36 years in the same house is a long time!
It's offspring needed more room to stretch out!

And it needed a high-rise, so, I stuck it on top of an old strawberry planter.
Of course, that pot was empty. Nothing ever grew for me there either.

My one and only garden achievement! Yipee!!

Anyone need a cutting?