Where did my week go?

I don't know what happened this week. I did zero sewing. And, in case you didn't notice, there was no blogging either. I did work some overtime this week. Guess what that means! I can set aside some cash for FABRIC! Yay, and no guilt either. I worked a torturous 16 hours shift that ended up being 17 hours of almost non-stop hustle. I'm still tired thinking about it.

Anyway, here are the promised pictures of last weekends quilting. I haven't made a move towards binding but I have been thinking about it.

I am in love with this thread that my friend let me use. It's a YLI variegated and looks fantabulous!

I know that I copped out on the quilting. I really, really wanted to do some straight line quilting and then some kind of pattern on the solid panels. I took a poll at the Wild Thread marathon and the vote was unanimous for curved line quilting. So I succumbed to peer pressure and then just quilted the whole thing with the same pattern. Quick and easy!

This is the backing fabric that I used. I have had it for years and every time I pull it out and suggest it for a project, someone says, "eeuw no!". I really like it and I think it was really waiting for this quilt.

See what I mean? Perrrrrfect!

And here is my other quick quilting job from last weekend. There is nothing easier than corner to corner quilting. And this minimal quilting makes for a very soft and cuddly quilt. I planned this quilt to be unisex but I kinda flubbed with the backing.

It's kinda girly dontcha think? Oh well.

And I'm still pondering the binding fabric for this one too.

I made this too. I used some of the corduroy that my friend, Annette, gave me. This tote is a nice size for a knitting or handwork project. Or maybe a trip to the library. I used my Bernina gathering foot for the ruffle. I am really looking for ruffle projects. I don't buy Vera Bradley products because I always think I should make it myself, but I saw some cute VB items with ruffles when I was at the beach. Maybe I'll make a tote or little cosmetic bag with 3 or 4 rows of ruffles. That might be cute.

I also made this tote with ruffles on the sides of a pocket. I didn't use any interfacing or batting so this one is floppy. I'm not crazy about it and I don't know what to do with it. I think it's hard to give away something I don't like. If I don't like it, then I don't think anyone else will. Do you ever have something like that? What do you do with it. Should I donate it to my guild's Quilt show silent auction? What if no one bids on it? Oh good grief.

Let's hope I am more productive in the sewing room this week. I did get lots of little chores done around the house this week. The weather has been lovely. I love autumn and it motivates me. I am really tempted to make some big changes around here. I am still struggling with the layout in my sewing room and I'm tempted to move it to a completely different room. More on this soon. I think I'll need some input.

Hope you had a good weekend. I think I'll have some carry-out Indian food for dinner tonight, mmmm mmmmm! Bye!

Sewing with the Wild Threads!

Sorry there is no picture today. Yesterday I spent the whole day with my quilting buds, the Wild Threads. We had a sewing marathon at the local church. It's a wonderful big sunny room and everyone works on whatever they want. I had a slow start because I was tired but a little coffee perked me up and I got a lot done.
I took my quilt with the woodsy critter squares which was already sandwiched and basted and I got it quilted. Just simple straight lines diagonally. I also took the quilt I made from the fabric I dyed. Not only did I sandwich and pin baste it but I also got it quilted. I promise a picture this week. My friend, Kathy, had some YLI variegated thread that she said would be perfect and she loaned it to me. So I cranked it out. Lots of loops and swirls! I know that I committed to some special quilting in the solid setting fabric....but......I didn't. I really wanted to be able to get the thread back to Kathy and I was SO excited to be getting the quilt done. I haven't decided what fabric to use for binding. I don't think I have enough of the rust left, I'll have to see.
I also finished a little tote bag I had started out of corduroy and started another. Last week I got a Bernina gathering foot so I was itching to put ruffles on something. Both totes have some.
Marathons are great fun but what a chore to put the sewing room back together. I enjoy binding so that will make for some nice handwork this week.
I have a very sore elbow. I call it 'rotary elbow'. The Accuquilt Go company has been giving away the Go's all over blogland. I keep entering but have yet to win one. The latest giveaway is at Canton Village Quiltworks. Check it out and enter if you must. But I hope you also wish me luck, ha ha. It looks like a cool product and I really really want to make a few quilts with the tumbler blocks. I saw some really cute colorful kids' quilts with them on someone's blog and have been itching to make one ever since. When I went to Quilt Odyssey a few weeks ago, I looked all over for a tumbler block template. I saw zillions of different templates but NO tumblers. Phooey!
Give me a couple days and I will give you LOTS of pictures. Okey dokey?
Toodles!

Since I have something to send to my niece, Lucy, I should make something for her younger brother, Buddy. I actually cut into my new stash of Lizzy House Castle Peeps fabric and made a little blankie for his toys. I thought the border needed something after I had it done, so I inserted this little piece with the towers. I was glad it worked or I was gonna end up with a tiny border.

The back is a super soft lightweight polar fleece and I didn't use batting because I wanted it to be soft and flexible.

E.T. tried it out and he liked it (a lot!).

Monkey saw E.T. and wanted to snuggle. They're good friends.

But Monkey is just a baby and he needed a nap.

It's a sweet little blankie and I hope Buddy has fun with it. It's on it's way to a big adventure in the San Francisco Bay area with the Panty Pinwheels.

Wait until you see all of the fabric that a friend just gave me. Yards and yards and yards of corduroy AND velvet. I think I'm going to try my hand at making some large shopping bag type totes. I will definitely make a top out of some corduroy. Maybe some more playtime with simple squares and add in some half square triangles.

Au revoir mes amis!

Just piddling around!

While working up to getting the woodsy critter squares quilt quilted, I decided to play around. Call me crazy but I made these out of underwear. Yup! I mistakenly bought 'granny panty' style underwear. I liked the colors and patterns but picked up the wrong package and didn't realize my mistake until it was open at home. So I just set them aside. That is, until Inspiration knocked on the door!!!! It is cotton knit and I just fused a print on one side and solid on the other, cut out squares and - voila! - pinwheels.
Can you tell what they are? Pony tail holders!! Cutie cute, huh? I think I'll send them to my niece in California. (Hannah, you don't have to tell Lucy that they were underwear!)

Anyway, I also played around making some more scrap blocks and asterix blocks, and finally put a label on my friend's baby quilt. Maybe I'll do some quilting today. The Wild Threads are having a marathon (all day sewing together) next weekend so I need to decide what I want to work on. Maybe I'll start something new!

Now go look at your panties in a whole new light people! See ya!

How exciting!!

After my last post, I got a comment offering me some more red, white, and blue squares. Yaaaay!! I can make the quilt bigger. Thank you JoAnne! Can you email me please? I don't have any way to contact you and I would love to take you up on your offer.

And, boo hoo, I was told to fix the two identical blue squares, :( It's so true, though. Because the squares are larger, 5 inches, there aren't that many of them and it's so noticeable and baffling. Totally random doesn't always work. Oh well, seam ripping is a good excuse to sit in front of the TV.

I got something so cute in the mail today. When I was at Quilt Odyssey I saw a pattern that is so completely cute and funny that it was sold out. I bought it and have been waiting impatiently, and now it's here!! I'll try to take a decent picture of it and post it tomorrow.

Good night!

Sunday charms!

I said I wanted to play with squares so I did. First I pulled out my Heather Ross fabric, including a bunch of HR charm squares I got on eBay a while back. I couldn't make up my mind what to do so I set them aside. Instead I pulled out these fun woodsy fabrics and some solids and started cutting them into 5 inch charm squares. Ta dah!! This is 32 by 36 inches. Kinda small. I'm deciding between making it bigger using more squares or putting on a border. Ideas??
I had all of these red/white/blue charms from an online swap so I pulled them out and randomly put them together. Honestly, how pathetic that two identical squares are next to each other. I'm not positive but it also might be the only fabric that is repeated. Again, it's kinda small. I don't have any more of these charms so I definitely need to put borders on it. And that's how I spent my Sunday folks. Now it's dinner time and I still need to go to the grocery store and fill my car with gas and put some laundry away and straighten up.............. It was worth it though.
I had a nice sewing weekend. How about you?

Finished!

I got it done. I gotta tell ya though, I think the border was more work than the middle. I don't mind paper piecing but I do find it tedious. I probably could have made those blocks without paper piecing but I didn't put the thought into it. I did make up the corners though. They are a little different. I have a bit more paper to tear off. I really like this quilt, especially because I dyed the fabric myself.

I have a backing picked out, it's a folk art looking floral that I've had for a while. I don't have any ideas for quilting yet though.

For a hot minute I thought about putting some applique on the three solid strips, then I changed my mind. I am going to force myself to do some awesome quilting on them. Oohhhh lordy! Did I just put that in writing?

I guess I'll have to follow through on that bold announcement. Not yet though. I want (need) to make a quilt from ALL squares. Just simple squares. Every time I see a quilt like that, I just love the look. Plus, it really showcases the fabrics. I think it's time to cut into my Heather Ross stash. More crazy talk!! And I'm not even drinking. Enjoy your weekend!

Play, play, play!

Man oh man! I could only look at these for so long before I just had to cut them up! So the playing began. I took some cues from Liberated Quilting and just started chopping and sewing. I tried not to have too many straight lines, I wanted angles. I had no plans for where this was going but once I had a bunch of wonky strips, decisions had to be made.

I have always wanted to make a Chinese coins quilt so I borrowed that general idea and came up with this. It's not very big and definitely needs more work. I have a history of getting lazy when I get to this point. I'm not always crazy about making borders. BUT, I now have Judy Laquidara's book, Weekend Quilts. I've mentioned this book before. It's my new 'go to' source for border ideas. Judy makes awesome borders.
Ta-dah!! This top border is what I came up with. And yay! My math worked out. I'm foundation piecing these blocks so it's a little time consuming. It will be a while before I get them all the way around but I really like the look so far.

It all started with a few minutes of playing around and now I'm headed for my new favorite quilt. Sadly, I have to go back to work tomorrow after a week long staycation. Boo hoo!

Have a great week peeps!

Tension and discord in the sewing room!

My plan was to spend some quality hours in the sewing room today. Yesterday I made this. It was fun and fairly quick (if you don't count fabric selection time). I decided to get some more made today and put them away for xmas gifts. Perfect for co-workers. Know what it is? A quilted folder!! Pretty cute huh? You can find the tutorial here. I used a pretty sturdy interfacing and Heat n Bond fusible. I think that might explain why somebody named Bernie, as in Bernina, was in a major snit this morning. She behaved yesterday and I had no trouble stitching this folder.

But look at this mess! This is the back of the second folder I tried making today. There was frequent jerking, skipped stitches, two broken needles, and little rats' nests on the back. I cleaned out my machine, rethreaded everything, put on new needles, and what did I get?

This mess!Loot at that awful edge! It seems Bernie and I are fighting. I got the last word in though.......I turned her off, heh heh! I decided to iron up all of the fabric that I dyed the last two days. By the way Bernie, you aren't the only machine in the stable you know. So I plugged in the iron and started on my mountain of purty colored fabric. That's when I discovered that it was Me against the Machines, argh! As my steam iron heated up....all of a sudden - blurp! - my iron spit up a splatter of brown water onto the ironing board. Gross! Luckily it missed my fabric. If you recall this post, you know that I am hard on irons. They are expensive too which is why I only spent $35.00 on the current 'barfing' iron. Ya get what ya pay for dontcha ?
Let's move on shall we? How about I show you a few snaps of my fabric dyeing? First of all, I soaked my fabric in soda ash and hot water. When I ordered my dyes from Dharma Co., I also ordered 10 yards of 'ready to dye' Kona cotton. I cut this into half and quarter yard pieces.

I set up a table outside, lined it with damp towels , and lined up everything I would need. The book said to mix the dyes in a blender and then pour them into containers, so I did just that. My understanding is that the dyes will keep for a while as long as they don't get contaminated with any of the soda ash. I mixed shades of blue in these canning jars and let some cuts of fabric soak for some time. I learned that you need to add more water than you think to get a significantly lighter shade.

I squeezed the dye out and let the fabric sit for a while.

Then I lay them out on the grass to dry. I tried sprinkling some rice on one panel to use as a resist, it didn't do much. Oh well.

This is a view from the upper deck of the second day's work. I discovered the hard way that I needed to use a new patch of lawn. I draped a wet yellow panel on some grass that had blue on it from the day before. Oops, a few blue spots. (I meant to do that, lol.)

So check these out! Yummy! Not bad for my first attempt.

And while I was at it, I scrounged around and picked out some black and white and white on white fabric scraps to try overdyeing. Very cool! I really like the blue on the far right and the yellow. Both were white on white fabrics. I put a couple of black and white pieces into dark dye baths and that was a mistake. The black design just disappears. It works much better in dilute dyes.

And finally!! The promised extra peeks at my sewing space. I swiped this unit out of my daughter's room. It holds a LOT of fabric.

Too bad the bottom compartment has shelves in it. I really wanted to put Bernie in time out with her friend the iron.

Previously my fabrics have been kept in these wire basket units. I've lost interest in them, some times they fall out. I have four of these units, two holding up my cutting table and two under my Big Board ironing surface. I am pondering new uses for them. They also add to the cluttered look in the room, maybe I should put a little skirt around them. Yeah, maybe next year.

Okay, this was a long post. I hope you made it to the end without snoring. If anyone has any ideas for making Bernie behave, please let me know. Thanks and good nite!

Keeping my promise.

I'm back, and I'm ready to show you a few peeks of my revised sewing space. I still have LOTS of organizing to do but I started with the floor plan. I made myself a cubicle. I can sit in my swivel chair and turn from cutting table to sewing machine to storage. I'm working on the ironing surface, I'll show you that tomorrow. Notice the TV? It keeps me company during sewing marathons. This is the view from within my 'cubicle'.

Oh look! Guess what came yesterday? Yup, the set is now complete. Now I have to figure out how to use it. It's important to mention that when I spend long periods of time holed up in this room with the TV on, I am not only sewing and playing but also doing the family's laundry. That's right people, I spend hours slaving in the laundry room. It's important to have my family wearing clean, fresh clothes. And I'm willing to spend the time to make it happen.

Tomorrow, I'll show a few more shots of the sewing room. Right now, I want to show you the goodies I got at the quilt show. I had a budget and guess what, I went over it. But, my my my it was fun. I went to the show with hopes of seeing a Bernina booth. I want to get a gathering foot for my 'Bernie'. But they weren't there! Waah! I also want to find a tumbling block template. I don't expect to ever have an Accuquilt Go, unless I win one, so I'll have to cut my own tumbling blocks. There were a ZILLION rulers and templates. But not one tumbling block. Guess I'll have to make my own durned template. Anyway, I found other things to spend my dollars on. Check out the new Kaffe I found. Pencils!

And this crazy ombre dots!

And lucious florals! I couldn't resist.

Oops! Late in the day, I remembered that my goal this year was to build my stash of solids. So, I got busy. I couldn't resist the pretty geometric print, especially when I saw how good it looked with my solids. Uh, well........... all right, all right!!!! I picked up the geometric print first. But look how good it looks with those colors! See the cheddar? My friend, Pat, found it first. I had directed her to the sale bin and she picked it right up. I couldn't believe I had overlooked it. I think I must have whined a bit because Pat, one of the nicest friends ever, shared it with me. Yahoo!! It has quite a kick, dontcha think?

I limited myself to just ONE quilt book. I looked at tons and at times I had three or more in my hands. But I narrowed it down and couldn't resist this. Frieda Anderson has awesome, clear directions for fabric dyeing. Perfect timing too.

Huh? How did this get here? Gosh, I just don't think I can be held responsible. I haven't ever found a Quilter's 12 step program, have you? Until I find one, I'm just going to have to struggle by myself. This book is very cool and it reminded me of some quilts that Victoria from Bumble Beans makes. The cover quilt is also very similiar to the style of my Bubbles pillow. Isn't this cover just gorgeous?
And one more thing, I got a little bit of this fabric. I have seen a couple different tutorials online for making Memory game pieces. This fabric is perfect for that. Did you ever play Memory? All those little square cards. You turn two over at a time and try to remember where everything is so you can make pairs.

So I spent some time this afternoon playing with interfacing and fusible. I have a good start on some great gifts. See the finished pieces at the bottom? I just zigzagged around them. Easy peasy but I expect the zigzagging with be time consuming. I think I'll make some cutie pie bags to put these game pieces in.

Tomorrow, I'll show you the fabrics I dyed and more of my sewing room. And I also have some things in the works that will make very cool gifts. I'll definitely show you some time this week. Right now, it's time for a glass of wine and a good book.

Toodles!

Whew!! Do I have stuff to show you!

Later today, I PROMISE!! I will have a decent post. I am on staycation this week (vacation at home). What have I been doing? Well, I rearranged my sewing room for one. It still needs some tweaking but I think it might work. The goal is a design that keeps me organized and minimizes clutter and mess. Yeesh!! That is one big GOAL. And the second thing I did was dye some fabric! Oh yes, yesterday I dyed a big mess of fabric. I still have dye mixed up so I might do some more today. As long as everything is out. I also went to Quilt Odyssey on Saturday with 3 of my pals. We had so much fun. And yesterday I started sewing something very cute. I plan to finish it today and then I'll show you. I think this will be what I give my co-workers this year for Christmas.
So I promise you, today I will take lots of pictures and get started showing you all of the fun I've been having around here.
Y'all come back soon, okay?

BUSTED !!!

I have been caught in the act, photographed doing something naughty. Apparently I have the NEED for SPEED! This week (for the SECOND time in 2 months) I have gotten a nice photo in the mail of my little blue Prius..............speeding on Orleans St. in Baltimore. Twice in the same exact place. Hmmmm? Slow learner? An interesting detail is that I'm heading home both times. Whaddya think, hurrying home to my sewing room ? That's reasonable right? But, in case you think Baltimore needs to clear the streets when my shift ends, I was going a smoking 37 and 40 mph! Can I get an Amen to the fact that there are places where it is almost impossible to go 25 mph? Might as well walk right? Ugh. I think I better find another route out of the city. I am really not a menace on the streets. Baltimore recently put dozens of these speeding cameras up and I guess it's gonna take me a day or two, or 100, to mend my ways. Waaah.

I don't like to post without pictures, so, remember this?


I made it from all the little trimmings from this?

Well, I haven't done anything else with it. How's that for an update? It's about 10 or 12 inches square and is parked on my design wall. I got some flowers a few months ago and they came wrapped in some sheer pink tulle. I pinned that across the little mini to experiment. I'm not sure about that, so the I'm just letting the whole thing marinate. It might take a while but sooner or later, something will spark. I might see something on the web or in a book that turns on the lightbulb or I'll just get tired of the clutter on the design wall and force the issue. Anything could happen. I could use it for another pillow, make a mini, build around it medallion style to make something bigger, make more of them........who knows.

Anybody else do this? Just let something sit in your peripheral vision catching your interest now and then? Feel free to shout out an idea or two for my little treasure, what would you do with it?

Baby quilts.

What quilter doesn't make baby quilts? They are quick, easy, and most of all, FUN!! But, my goodness, I know a lot of people having babies. Once I started making baby quilts for co-workers, I haven't been able to stop. Over a year ago, I dug in my heels, drew a line in the sand, put a cork in it, cried 'uncle', put an end to it, stated 'no more', 'the factory is closed' blah blah blah! I meant it too. My friend, Reyna, has been pregnant FOREVER and I made zero plans to make a quilt. Nope, not gonna do it. I said I was done. They had a shower for her while I was out after surgery so I didn't have to embarass myself by showing up with a storebought gift, eeeuw!
So, my question is this, "How come I made her a baby quilt this past sunday?" I don't know how it happened. I was fine when I got up, had no big plans for the day. I think I'm going to blame these patterns from Kellie at Don't Look Now. I have had them for a short while and I couldn't ignore them any longer, I just had to play with them on Sunday. The next thing I knew.................... I was pin basting this little treasure. It sure is convenient when you know the sex AND name of the baby. What I didn't know is that little Sam was born while I was making this top. Hmmmm, maybe I have ESP. This was so fun and quick to make. I just made two sets of opposite 9patch blocks and then made the applique blocks the same size. Pop them all together and there you go! All I need to do is quilt and bind and label. Now, what should I do about the two other preggos at work? Oy!

Better late than never!

I think I finally figured out how to easily respond to your comments. I believe I have now successfully subscribed to receive comments to my email address. That will make it easier to respond to them. Before I figured it out, it was a multi step process involving opening extra windows and cutting and pasting etc etc. Leaving a comment on this blog is easy, no word verification, you don't need an account, just type and click. If you don't have an account, you will be anonymous so include your name if you want, especially if I know you.
Slowly but surely, I am learning how to blog, lol.