ETA: I was writing this post on Wednesday…in the midst of it my server went down. It is now 5am on Thursday when I am finally able to get back into my site. See! The Universe is whacko! I did get a nice message from my host
The server mysql-a.mac^&*%$#.com (aka mysql-a.%$#mac.com) is down. We have technicians on scene working to restore service as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we do not currently have an estimated time of repair. We appreciate your patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may be causing. About the 5th time in 5 months. I’m moving my site soon.

I apologize. I know I said I would have details here on Monday. The Universe must be whacko because I had 2 big life blows dealt me yesterday and today. One by someone I trusted for many years and one a la familia. As a DEAR friend of mine says “Family makes ya’ ’bout to bust!” To top it off my server went down as I was writing this post. Oy with the poodles already!!
Anyhoobastank… here is the skinny on the skinny
This is the Quilt Le Tour de France Giveaway. I will randomly draw one name. to receive the following items:
Penny from Sew Take a Hike will be giving fat quarters of:
Alexander Henry ‘Starling”
Flea Market Fancy “Barbells”
Momo Wonderland “Snip Snip”
Heather Ross “Kelp Stripe”

Luci of DuhBe will be giving 6 of her gorgeous handmade fabric roses! In your choice of available colors.

I will be giving a new 5″ charm {50} pack of Aunt Grace

Here’s Whatcha Gotta Do cha cha cha:

There ya have it! 5 chances! Make sure you leave all the entries on THIS post by 9pm Central/7pm Pacific/10pm Eastern on Sunday, July 25thTuesday, July 27th.
Be sure you I am able to contact you.
GO!!

Sew, Mama, Sew! Wants to know about our Thread Stash.
My thread stash is dwindling…especially in the quilting and general sewing threads selection. I have used up so much. I haven’t shown pictures of all my threads. Many cones of serger thread are stored in a plastic bin. My excess machine embroidery thread is also tucked away. I love Guterman and Mettler threads for sewing…Madera, Gunold and Robison-Anton thread for machine embroidery. I am in process of testing out some other companies for quilting thread. Superior and Aurafil come to mind. I do have some Coats and Clark leftovers but rarely buy it.
As you can tell from my wonky organizing… I am in dire need of some thread racks! I also want to do a stock up shopping spree as soon as I am able.

Here are the Sew, Mama, Sew! Questions:

* How did you select colors for your personal thread collection?

For machine embroidery I bought large cones of each available color. For general sewing I will usually stock up 3 or 4 from the same color family

* Do you always match the color perfectly to your project?

I try to. Many times I focus on blending it.

* Do you ever use contrasting thread?

Oh Yes! Especially if I want the thread to play an artistic part in the project

* Do you use the same color in the bobbin as the upper thread?

If it is going to show or if I am picky about what the inside of a garment will look like, then yes. Otherwise I use a neutral color made special for bobbins

* What if a fabric has big areas of very different colors?

Then I lay several across the fabric and see which blends the best. I also love to use variegated.

* Do you have any tips or suggestions about choosing thread?

Never use thread that you don’t know the age of without testing its strength. If it breaks toss it in the trash. Keep a good supply of neutral colors.

* Can you show us a picture(s) of your thread collection?

Yup. They are in this post. The pictures are just a partial selection of my threads.

* Do you ever buy thread because you fall in love with the color (without a particular project in mind)?

Yes! I have been known to succumb to yummy colors

* Do you “invest” in thread?

I do … but as you can see I am overdue in my thread investing. Cha-Ching$$.

* What types of thread do you have? (elastic, quilting, all-purpose, wool, etc.)

All of the above and add in Silk, Heavy Duty Nylons {used for packs, tents and cycling / outdoor gear}, buttonhole…I’m sure there are others that slip my mind.

Look at Y’all go! {this West Coast girl is trying hard to get her Texas on}

1. shoot the moon2, 2. Colors, 3. Square one of single Irish chain block, 4. On the wall, 5. DSC_0001, 6. Tour Quilt Design
Go to the Quilt Le Tour flickr page to see the great work going on!
Moving on from yesterday… thank you all for your support and kind words. Yeah I shouldn’t have caved…but I did and I’m going to leave it be. No more changes.
I didn’t get to watch any of the Tour yesterday. Here is the link where I read the recap
It is hot here in Austin, the humidity is high and my AC is choking and gagging. My babygirl away at school in Australia is… as she puts it, “I’m freezing my royal Rastafarian nay-nays off!” I think I need to give her another anatomy lesson! She has requested that I knit her some wrist warmers, socks and a hat.
Stay cool and Share the Road.

We have Bike Route signs here!

Oh my Stars and Garters! Will they ever stop falling down? Yesterday I believe every single cycling team said hello to the road with their bodies. Today the cobblestones did them in. After mechanical issues Lance lost over 2 mins and dropped to 18th. He was not the only one with mechanical problems. It’s gonna be a long three weeks!

On the quilting side of our Quilt le Tour…
Look at what Maddie has done!
And I see a few others with pictures up in our Flickr group but I am not sure of your names. If you have pics to share please be sure to add them to our flickr pool. Again, if you haven’t joined the group on flickr please do so. !!! I will only be drawing names for the giveaway from the members!!!
Me? Aside from helping my son {yes, the one that has was hit by cars 2x in June} clean up a nasty road rash infection on his ankle {and no, there is no way he is going to stop riding} I am slowly working on my quilt blocks… but first I have a custom cycling hat to finish up for a Rep from Specialized

Made from a Deconstructed Jersey ©2010 Kongko

Here are a couple of peeks at some of the giveaway items:
Penny from Sew Take a Hike will be giving fat quarters of:
Alexander Henry ‘Starling”
Flea Market Fancy “Barbells”
Momo Wonderland “Snip Snip”
Heather Ross “Kelp Stripe”

Luci of DuhBe will be giving 6 of her gorgeous handmade fabric roses! In your choice of available colors.

I will be giving a new 5″ charm {50} pack of Aunt Grace

More tomorrow!

{8:21 PM Central Time} ADDENDUM to today’s post:
I have decided to change things up a bit. I know I said I would do a Giveaway at the end of each 3 weeks of the Tour. I have decided it would be more exciting to save it all for last. Giving everyone a chance to join in. There will be at least 4 names pulled from the random generator thingy. You will also have more than one entry chance. Sorry if I seem a weebit wonky (ha! my former blog name) about all this… be patient with me. It is my first time doing this sort of thing.

Hope all those living in the U.S. had a great 4th of July!
Day one of the tour… wow. Started and ended with crashes. The start… a dog ran onto the peloton {The peloton (from French, literally meaning little ball or platoon and also related to the English word pellet), field, bunch or pack is the large main group of riders in a road bicycle race}! Really? A dog? Who brings an unleashed dog to the Tour. Perhaps it was just a neighborhood dog. They love to chase you down on your bike. It’s bad enough that the people crowd the peloton.
Alessandro Petacchi won the first stage.

Bas Czerwinski / AP

©JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images

©AP

I asked on Prologue day what piece of equipment used by cyclists is also used by quilters…and the answer is…

I’ll be back later today with some pics of the upcoming giveaways. REMEMBER… you need to sign up for the Flickr group to participate in the giveaways. So far our giveaway contributors are Penny of Sew Take a Hike and Lucy of DuhBe. Oooo you are going to love what they have!

I have been working on some the block designs for the Tour theme. It {loosely} is based on a bicycle cog / cassette. Time for a bicycle lingo lesson eh? I will … but lightning is striking outside so I best shut down my Mac. I love it and want to keep it.
Remember to go sign up at the Flickr Group

© 2010 Coffee and Cotton

Once again I have gone down the what-if rabbit hole
{me? sidetracked? never}
I was thinking….how small can one go with hexies? I used the hexagon generator and plugged in my order for 1/2 inch hexagons…with a side of crazy. I’m on a diet so I turned down the fries.


Look like normal size…the kind you could make a whole quilt with? Ha! No way. I am patient but not THAT patient. They are soooo teeny tiny! Fit in a small, NARROW shot glass. Why was there a shot glass near my sewing??? My blog and I don’t have to answer that. I kid, I kid… I got it out of a cupboard. Never use them. I mean, why bother with such a small beverage??!!

What am I making with this? Can’t tell you yet.
I set my shot glass hexies aside and surfed some blogs. Low and behold Texas Freckles had tiny hexies on her site. So I blame her for enabling me once again and cursing me with hexie fever. She has such cute ideas!

It is so hot. Duh…it is TexAs and summer. I plopped myself in a chair that was in direct shot of a fan. Yes we have AC but it is very inefficient in a 1930′s house that has leaky windows and doors and no insulation.
Whilst plopped I put together some hexies. I was going to make a quilt with random hexes sewn together like this {isn’t it great?!}. Then I decided I wanted a Grandmother’s Flower Garden. I thought of doing one with the green hexes around each flower and then joined with neutral {like Switzerland?} hexes. But being ADD sidetracked lazy the ambitious person that I am, I think I have decided to get scrappy yet flowery. Think it will work??

Finished it over the weekend { just in time for the Spring to Finish Challenge }
It’s a beautiful morning here {before the heat hits} so I grabbed my cup of coffee and my camera and took some pics of the quilt hanging from my Crape Myrtle trees…wow, that was a run-on sentence. FYI….. Crape Myrtles … uh… pee … or something. Not sap. But drop liquid on you. Didn’t get on the quilt, just me. Anyhoo



I know this is a simple quilt but it means a lot to me. I have made so many through the years and gifted them without photographing them. This is my Re-entry, if you will, into the quilting world. So, there it is. Kész! And I am now officially sick of looking at it. I get that way with all my creations.

I am debating my next quilt project but first I have 4 hats to sew today and I have a bag designed that I hope to get sewn. Can’t wait to show you!

Good Saturday On You!

One row of hand-stitching left on the binding. Yesterday delayed the finish.
I used the MasterPiece thread that Pam suggested to me. I used it to do the free motion stippling and straight line quilting. It is soooooo fine and allows me to sew longer without refilling the bobbin. It has given me a few problems. Runs great in the Bernina 1530, broke a few times in the Pfaff 7570 but finally played nice using it with a horizontal spool holder… and as stated below…causes me grief in the Bernina 185E.
I use my old Pfaff 7570 to sew the first side of the binding on as it has the IDF…that’s like a built in walking foot and keeps all layers moving evenly. Wish my body had its own IDF! I also used it for the straight quilting. I love my Bernina 1530 for the Free Motion work…we just do well together and I feel the love as we waltz together. I have a newer {also bought used} Bernina 185E but haven’t tried it out for quilting yet. It was pretty persnickety with the Masterpiece thread. Kept shredding it. I will figure that problem out later.
For hand-sewing the MasterPiece is like buttah…mostly. The stitches are almost invisible and it doesn’t tangle. I do like to use some GOOD quality beeswax {not the icky kind sold in the notions department} on the thread to keep it straight. I used the thread doubled.

I am not affiliated with MasterPiece or Superior threads. Just the first time to use it. I would love to try the other threads Superior offers and also am curious as to how the Aurifil quilting thread sews/quilts. Sooooooo if any of you aforementioned thread manufacturers are reading this… I am available to test and review =D