A Little of This and a Little of That

Yesterday was my day for the Big Squash. You know what I'm talking about. Since my health insurance changed this year, I went to a different facility than the previous ten years or so. Always before, I've put on a sort of top-half of the hospital gown. It always worked fine at providing a modicum of modesty. Yesterday's covering was described as a "cape," but was actually more like a small handkerchief. And let me tell you, when you take off your brassiere and things start flapping in the breeze, it didn't cover much. It was something like this, but less evenly hemmed.

I stood looking in the mirror and spinning it this way and that way trying to figure out how this scrap of fabric was supposed to work, but eventually settled at the "opening down the front" position. Hm. Only a few short triangular edges of the handkerchief seemed to have any function whatsoever. Fortunately, it was just a few public steps to the room with the machine. Geez. It made me wonder why they bothered with any covering at all. 

Well. After that affront to my humility, what could I do but try a new recipe I found this week for Apple Upside-down Cake.

I've tried several recipes for apple upside-down cake over the years, but they always leave me a little disappointed. Usually, the cake is too dense and dry. This one was delicious, and I'll make it again. It took me twice as long to cook the sugar to caramelization, and so if you try this, be a little patient during that process. Also, the nuts added a nice little crunch. The recipe called for 1/4 cup, but when I make this again, I'll add a half cup. Even more might be better, but I'd start there. Lastly, I used Gala apples. The Google told me they were a good substitute for the Romes. We never see Rome apples in our local grocery. Okay, and I felt significantly better about having to start my day in such a discomboobulating condition.

While the cake was baking, I wanted to hang the two quilts I finished this week on the wall in my quilting room. The "quilting room" (not to be confused with the "sewing room") is where Eliza resides along with my desk and computer. When I was a working person, I often did paperwork in this room, and so it has pictures on the wall that would reflect that a social worker lives here. Since that seems like another lifetime, I'm slowly switching out wall items for things more appropriate to my current life as a quilter/catter/baker/photographer/intrepid traveler/wannabe gardener/etc. (Don't let the "etc." worry you. It's all legal.)

So anyway...I saw these little doo-dads on somebody else's blog, and I'm sorry I can't recall where it was. If it was you, my apologies, and thank you. You probably have the same concerns I did about the "damage-free" claim. Like a grand inquisitor, I read the reviews and couldn't find any that didn't extol their virtuous non-damaging quality, and so I decided to give them a try.

When you take them apart, they look like this...the two sides are identical.

The directions say to stick them together until they "click," and they're something like velcro, but not exactly. They're very easy to stick together by pressing on each side with your fingers.

Then, you pull a strip from one side, revealing the "sticky" underneath.

This, you stick to the back of your quilt. (I stuck the first one right in the corner, but then realized the quilt would sag. It was very easy to pull it off again and reposition it closer to the center.) When I had both sides stuck on, it looked like this.

Then, you pull off the second strip to reveal the sticky backing and stick them to your wall. (The instructions say to wait 8 days on a freshly painted wall, but otherwise, you're good to go.)

So, okay, that was easy enough. And then I did the second one. (A little crooked, but I fixed that.) It's looking more like a quilting room now, isn't it? And there's still plenty of wall space. Guess I'll have to make more quilts. Darn.

The quilt on the left has been stuck firm since I first hung it. The one on the right fell off the wall after about an hour. It seems the sticky stuff didn't stick to the back of the quilt very well. I tried sticking it back up again, pressing firmly and rubbing, but it fell down again about an hour later. So then I wondered if the dense stitching was the problem, and I turned the quilt 90 degrees where the sticky pieces could stick to the fabric, rather than the quilting thread. Since then...no problems. 

You'll have to decide for yourself whether you're comfortable with that sticky stuff on the backs of your quilts. I'm fine with it for these little wall hangings. Also, I would only use this on small quilts. They don't seem strong enough for large quilts. These are available on Amazon, and that's where I got mine. They're also available at Home Depot, Wal-Mart, and other department stores.

After that, I made my block for the September Block Lotto. This was a fun block called a Barn Door. It's much easier than it looks.

After that I had to choose between the last two projects on my to-do list for September, the Rainbow Scrap Challenge or Wind in the Whiskers. Since I really want to finish up Wind in the Whiskers, I opted to go that direction first. The backing is cut now.

And I traced and fused the first of the applique. Looking at those tiny pieces made me tired for the day and I quit there.

Today is a canning day and I have about 20 pounds of tomatoes to can. If I have time, I'll continue on with Wind in the Whiskers this afternoon.

Until then, I'll leave you with some more pictures of quilts from the Northwest Quilting Expo. Today I have the quilts of another featured quilter, Joyce R. Becker, who does very dense thread work for some interesting pictorial quilts.

Here's one for you dog lovers. This was another of the unmarked quilts on display. My apologies to the quilter for not being able to identify you, but your quilt is adorable, even to this cat lover.

Still lots more to come from the show. I haven't even gotten to the quilts entered for judging and competition yet.