Find me at TheBoredZombie.com!

ooopps! You've found me at my old blogspot blog. I've kept it around, but I don't visit it, well, ever. I'm still showing off geeky projects in all sorts of mediums in my current space at TheBoredZombie.com! Stop by, see some new projects and be sure to say hello!

Blogger Users – You need to read this. Google may identify you as a spammer, that’s bad.

 **I will not be updating this version of the this blog going forward. If you happened here by accident, find me @ www.theboredzombie.com. **

As some of you know, I was locked out of my Google account Wednesday morning. What that means is I was completely shut down – no access to email, no access to g+, no access to photo albums, and the worst, attempting to access my blog returned a plain blogger error page that says THIS BLOG DOES NOT EXIST. That’s right “does not exist”. Everything was gone. If I attempted to access any Google account features I received an error message that said I “may” have violated Terms of Service (TOS) and I could try to restore my account with a txt message to my phone. I had no idea what I had done or why they thought I “may” have violated TOS. I did get back online through the phone verification (took two tries over 45 minutes).  

It is crazy easy to get locked and here’s how it happened to me. I had made a few comments on some blogs as well as updates in g+ communities. I made a comment on someone’s blog, moved to the next blog, hit submit for a comment and boom – I didn’t exist anymore.

I knew I needed to consider moving my blog to my own hosting to avoid the issue in the future, but I wasn’t in any huge hurry to do so. I had decided that I would just be VERY careful when using my account and make sure I didn’t OVER comment. Then, I discovered that my blogger account settings had been changed on my behalf and I was now a no-reply blogger. While attempting to figure that out, I heard from another blogger that they had also been spam locked. In addition, I’ve noticed Google removing comments from my blog. I will get an email that indicates I’ve received a new comment from a REAL HUMAN only to find it has been deleted from my blog. I’ve gone back and checked my own comments on other people’s blog and mine have been deleted from time to time as well.

The combination of my blog being removed, comments being removed from my blog, and my comments being removed from other blogs, I was inspired to try to get help from the big G to figure out what the issue is. As it turns out – Google had determined that blocking some legit users is acceptable to keep the number of spam blogs down. You can read another big pile of words that describe why google may shut you down for spamming and the unusual resolution process in this blogger product forum. I like Google products. I like blogger, it is exactly what I need for what I want to do. I like it’s simplicity. I like integration with my mail and social media. I like having everything on one platform. It doesn’t matter how much I like it though, when it comes down to it, we are all at risk of being criminalized in an effort to catch the criminals. Guilty until proven innocent. Ouch. I can’t allow Google to automatically and arbitrarily remove me from the face of the internet because I’m “too active” or used a word that is popular with spammers.

Truth - I’ve outgrown blogger. I’m serious about my web presence and intend to manage it reliably and fairly. I’m moving myself off the blogger platform. Yes, I will have to pay some amount per month for the hosting, but less than $10/month for the peace of mind that comes with having actual support people contactable by phone for issue resolution is worth every penny. Truth – I have no idea what I’m doing or how to do it. Like you’ve come to know in my crafts, I’m just going for it. One step at a time. It is going to take some time to get everything moved and looking like I want it. It is also going to take me a bit to learn the ropes for commenting and reading via wordpress. As a matter of fact, I’m likely to be a hot mess over the next week or two while I straighten myself out.

 I sincerely hope you will have patience with me and meet me on the other side!

(update: In the first 30 minutes of working with GoDaddy for hosting, I’ve run into a problem, contacted a human support person, and had it fixed within 10 minutes.)

Saturday Studio Challenge (on Thursday!): Pac-Man Purse

Since I was off work today and didn't have any BBQ plans I decided I would repeat last Satuday's Studio Challenge. This time though - I picked a project I knew I could finish. I'm really happy with how it turned out and excited to show you!

Pretty cute right?? I can't wait to use it at my next nerd con. I'm certain at least one person will be jealous of its awesomeness! I didn't get to structure this challenge like last Saturday's. There were lots of planned interruptions though the day and I knew I wouldnt get two solid hours for eight hours, or even for two hours. I went ahead and worked all the way though and will show you milestones.

Milestone 1: Collecting Supplies.

I bought this Pac-Man fabric a few months ago. I try not to ever buy a fabric I don't intend to use for a specific project. This one was special! The instant I saw it the only question was, how many yards? It's been hanging around the studio for a month or more and I look at it all the time just dying to make something out of it!

You may remember one of the classes I took at the Original Sewing and Quilt expo was Hope Yoder's Hipster Chick. (If you don't, here's the link with my class attempt at it.) It didn't take long for me to connect her bag pattern with this fabric! I did have to make some modifications to her pattern, mostly for preference, but it is pretty close to hers.





Milestone 2: The Quilting

Alright Alright - Getting somewhere! I just love the mod look of the fabric and wanted to highlight it. Rather than straight line quilting, I did small circles in every other row around the existing circles. You cant really see it in the pictures, I used black thread on a black background, but it is very similar to the yellow pattern. I added a button because I didnt like the idea of my phone living in a pocket that could just pop open.

I'm still struggling a bit with those curves, epically when the fabric is going from the back of the machine to the front. This was good practice indeed! 

I'm impressed with my clever idea to get the pattern on to the yellow fabric. I'll be showing it at the end of the post so stick around!



Milestone 3: Embroidered Patches

I just had to get a Pac-Man in there somewhere. Trust me, I duly noted Clyde's (the orange ghost) absence. I couldn't live with Pac-Man missing too. I whipped up some with a little free motion zig zag stitch in a hoop to add on the prairie circles in the pattern. I just went for it here. I doodled them on the stabilizer and whipped them out. They aren't "perfect", but that's OK, I wasn't going for perfect!






Milestone 4: Front Pocket Complete

I made the circles, added the embroidery patches, put the blue binding on and attached the pocket to the front side of the bag.

Aren't the Pac-Man and ghosts fun? I'm still debating with myself a bit, I was going to make one of the ghosts white and red, the off color when they are blinking. In the end I decided "just ate a power pellet" solid blue would work. That way none of us have to have anxiety because they might be turning back to eat Pac-Man any second!









Milestone 5: Connecting the parts

Phew! The part that had me worried! Pesky Zippers! I know they aren't hard, but there are so many ways to muck it up. If you look really hard, you'll see that my connection to the front side of the bag is a little wonky. The thickness of the praire circles, binding, zipper, quilt layer, and lining was just a bit more than would glide right through the machine. I never quite managed to get it straight. It is pretty close, zips open and closed, and didnt get sewn on backward. WIN!

That's pretty much it. After this I sewed it all up, did a few finishing touches and called it done! If you're curious - the modifications I made were adding a button, making the strap both wider and longer, changing the super stiff crafty fuse to a medium stiffness interfacing, and added an inch to the length of the bag to accommodate my wallet.



Bonus!

As I mentioned, I wanted to mimic the circles and lines in quilting of the yellow background behind the pocket of the purse. I knew there was no way I could keep them straight or even without some sort of guide. After thinking long and hard, I thought about these little stickers. They are meant to fix three hole punched paper in three ring binders. You can find them in any office/school supply store. These ran $1.27 for 500+ stickers.

The whole time I was using them, the line "you're a * genius Gump" kept swimming through my head. I may have been more impressed with myself than the idea warranted!

Don't forget - I love to see what you're doing too. If there's something I just shouldn't miss, be sure to link me!

Dizzy Dresdens: Applique and Trusting Instincts

When we left Dizzy Dresdens, the piecing had been done and the dresdens were ready for applique. The background squares are 21" so I was quite daunted by this task. There were several reasons - a circle center, no fusing, lots of tiny little points, BIG square, virtually no room for placement error, and well, the nerves that comes with inexperience. Like I'm famous for, I figured there's no room for being scared and I should just go for it!I think it worked out OK and I surely learned a few things along the way!

OK OK, I should have cropped those cute little feet, but I just couldn't!

The first step was cutting and prepping the circles. I was determined to do it as directed in the quilt magazine the pattern came from and it went a little like this:

Cut 1/4" around applied freezer paper template

Baste seam allowance and pull

Starch and Press

Not bad for my first try. It is something I think you certainly get better at. You can see, I dont quite have a circle there. There's a point at the bottom and a bit of extra seam allowance bending it a bit at the top right. I decided this quilt is all for practice and learning so I wasnt going to get bent out of shape (ha!) about small things like that. Quick scroll up to the picture with feet, do you see the wonky point on the center circle of the yellow dresden? Me either.

The next big step was putting it on the background square and blanket stitching around it. Boy did I feel like I was flying without a net here! No fusing?? I may have over done the pins a bit, but I felt good about it and decided to go with it.

As it turns out - it DOES work just fine without a net. I dont know that I got every single curve right, but over all, pretty darn good. I was pleased with myself and went on to doing the points.

Here's where we are going to talk about instinct. I was so hell bent that I going to do it the way the magazine said that I forgot I kind of know what I'm doing and sometimes my way is OK too. I mentioned way earlier in this post that one of the issues was placement. The background squares are cut to 21", the dresden point to point is 20.5". So you see - no room for error. I did ok with the placement, but when it came to stitching on the points close to the edge of the square, things went south quickly.

See how those points are puckering ? When the needle was near the points, they fabric would get caught in the throat plate. Sometimes piles of thread would catch and it knotted, or worse. A few times, I managed to sew a few stitches and the feed dogs were not moving my fabric along giving me a big old corner of mess. I fought with it all the way through the yellow and into the purple dresdens determined that if the magazine didn't SAY to use stabilizer then it must be do-able and I must be wrong. I finally just said "screw it, I dont care what the magazine says or doesn't say, I'm getting out at least a lightweight stabilizer. Night and day y'all, night and day. When your instincts are screaming at you - don't be pig headed, listen! try! do!

Now you REALLY see the puckers in the previous picture, don't you?

Here's one final picture, just because I like it even if it didnt fit in the body of this post. Trust me, I tried to force it!

Hope you're having a great week - I can't wait to see what everyone is working on! Think I might have missed something fab? Be sure to link me and I'll come by and check it out!

Want to see all the posts related to this project? Here's a handy dandy index!

Saturday Studio Challenge! The Flamingo House

I've wanted to try a studio challenge for a long while now. This is the first free Saturday I've had in months! Here's how I think it will work:

• Turn off the computer and enter the studio. 
• Start working!
• Update every 2 hours with a quick check-in
• Keep at it for at least 8 hours.

In fairness - I have no idea how this is going to actually work. Will the 2 hour check in interrupt my flow? Will the needs of the housemates take away too much attention? Will I just get bored and want to play Warcraft? Since I don't know - I'm not doing it live this time, but I promise not to change a single word after it is written (unless I spell original "origional" again). If it goes well, next time I'll do it live and maybe even recruit one of you to join! 

Getting Started: 10:30 AM

I picked up a pattern from Marcia Layton at the Original Sewing and Quilt Expo because it screams me and bestest friend Jess. Tacky to the max with flamingos, yo yos, and rick rack. One day - I'm going to make one for Jess and I to hang up in our retirement beach house, but for now it seems like a good practice opportunity. If it turns out - I will donate it to my quilting bee who is collecting house wall hangings for Habitat for Humanity. You may remember the first house attempt, mushroom house - Nice experiment, but I can do better for sure!









YO YO Mania: 12:30 PM

In the last two hours, I cut a super ton of yoyos with my fancy new circle cutter. I don't love hand sewing when I'm in the studio. It is much better suited for traveling and keeping my hands busy during movies or TV. I did want to have one or two of the different sizes made up to try as the wall hanging came together so  I decided to sew as many as I could before I hit the 12:30 update deadline. Time for a little snack and then it is back to work!










The Background: 2:30 PM

I finally was able to cut out some large pieces and see this thing start to come together. I fought with myself a bit because this is *NOT* how I would build this quilt. Then I remembered - the reason I do projects like this following someone's instructions is to learn new ways of doing things. Sometimes, as difficult as it can be for my hard headed self to admit, their way is better! (ok, you got me, MOST TIMES)

This project calls for using fusible fleece to applique the parts together. Until yesterday - I didn't even know what fusible fleece was! So far it is pretty cool. Works the same as fusible web, but is plushy. The sky and the sand go together and all the other pieces are appliqued on with a blanket stitch. It leaves a raw edge under the blanket stitch, but I think I can live with that. We'll see how it all comes together.



Applique Fever: 4:30 PM

Phew! I'm so tired of blanket stitch I could cry! My machine only has one right and one left blanket stitch and both are quite short. I find it a bit tedious to work with, but made it though. All of the water and sand has been attached as well as the house, door and windows. You can probably see, the windows are a touch wonky. I dont know if it is a machine or user problem, but I struggled a lot with two layers of batting and two layers of fabric. I know a walking foot would certainly help, but mine only works with straight stitch.

I started adding a few of the embellishments then deiced to take an hour off for dinner. A girl's gotta eat right??






Rainbows and Trees: 7:30PM

Alright alright! It's starting to look like something! I didnt have any of the ribbons recommenced. I made do with what I had for the door and made the awning all by myself. I'm quite pleased with my problem solving here - I had nothing that would just plop in there and manged to pleat *just enough* of the light blue ocean I had left. I didn't have any striped fabric, but I did have some ribbon left from the Hungry Caterpillar gift bag (thanks Jess!) to improvise. It is only 1/2 and she suggested a full inch. An inch is probably better, but I think it is ok at this size. 

The tree was quite a pain. It sits far in the corner and has lots of turns. I didnt think I would ever get it on there, but finally managed it. Marcia has rick rack to mark the frowns on hers, since I didn't have any, I just used thread. More problem solving!



Now the fun part is left - putting on all the little picture making things like the flamingos and crabs and such. I'll work on the yoyo's in my down time this week and see how it goes. I knew I didnt stand a chance of getting all the hand work done today, but I did kind of expect to make it through all of the machine applique. I'm famous for overestimating, I shouldn't be surprised!

I'm home all day Thursday (July 4). I may try another challenge with something I can actually finish in day! The rules I set out for myself worked ok other than I didn't really include time to do things like eat. I may just repeat the update times, 10:30, 12:30, 2:30, 4:30, 7:30. Anyone else home for the holiday and want to play along? It would be fun to check in on someone while I'm at it. :)


Link Ins:
Sew Darn Crafty @Sew Many Ways
Anything Goes @Stitch by Stitch