Watching the Calendar...

It's been a whirlwind of sewing 'round here!  I actually have several posts worth to talk about, as I mentioned last time.  This project wasn't even on the list when I said that.  Do you ever have a date in your head, and  even though it is swiftly approaching, you somehow think it's farther away than it is?  Yeah, that was this project.  My husband's niece is expecting, and the baby shower was last Saturday.  In my head it was coming up this next week.  Last Friday, my husband chatted with his/my Sister-in-Law and they chatted about the shower...that was Sunday.  Yup, 2 days away.  He mentioned it to me Saturday morning.  And we already had a full schedule until late afternoon.  Oops!  

When we got home from all our activities, I looked through magazines of quick quilts. I messaged the Mom-to-be's sister and asked about colors.  Lavender and Aqua! In a magazine of Kids Quilts, I saw one that would be graphic, and straight forward. I did have some Warm n' Natural that would just fit the finished dimensions.    I didn't have a lot of lavender, so off to the quilt store I went.  At 4:20 pm, I arrived at the quilt store closest to my house.  They had closed at 4:00pm.  I took off for the next closest shop that was 30-ish minutes away.  While driving (I was at a light) I looked up their hours, to see that they closed at 5:00pm.  I got partway down the hill and realized there was no way I would make it. 

I turned around, and landed at JoAnn's Fabric at 4:45pm.  I had some coupons on the phone.  I went in and looked for lavender and aqua in the nursery fabrics.  I found some cottons, and some flannels.  I eventually made a set of cotton, and a set of flannels.  They each had a bit of gray tucked in.  I decided on the cottons and off to the cutting counter I went.  35 minutes later, I was on my way up to the checkout stands.   30 minutes later, I was out the door.  I got home about 6:45ish.  I ate something quickly, and started the quilt. 

Round about 1am, I hand wrote the label, and was tossing the finished gem into the washer. Of course, I had to be at church su-u-u-u-u-u-per early (choir was singing at 1st service).  Before I left the house, I tossed the quilt into the dryer.  When we got home, we bagged it up into a gift bag with some super cute baby tissue that was on hand, and out the door we went to the shower and hour and a half away. 

The Mom and Dad liked it!  I always sort of hold my breath when folks open a gift quilt.  They are such personal gifts - what if they didn't like it?  Of course, who is going to say they don't like it, right?  But they seemed to be pleased. 

 Josh and Rachael - your Gabriella Jo will be much loved!  We are so happy for you, and the new family you are making. 

May you all feel as blessed this coming week! (And make sure you actually check your calendar when you get the announcements & invitations in the mail!)

Summer's Been Good, but now It's Back to School!

September is always bittersweet...I'm always excited to be back at school and all that teenager energy is powerful. But summer is relaxing (mostly!) and I miss being able to quilt as I please.

 

I haven't posted for a while, but there are several completed projects. Tonight, I'll show the Sweet Pea Pods. Little zipper pouches, with a single loop of zipper. So easy to make and super fast and darling! This is a Lazy Girl design and, as always, the directions are crystal clear and thorough, with lots of pictures.  You can check it out here.

 

Got a bunch of zippers and extra pulls from Zipper Island. So many choices, and quick service. She included a few goodies - an extra decorative pull and adorably packaged. So inexpensive too! I'll be ordering again  for the next zippers I need. 

  

Mine came out pretty cute I think. I made 4 and just made two more last night for an exchange gift at my TacMQG meeting tonight.  They are a lovely soft green. We are doing birthday baskets - if it's your birthday, you bring a small gift, and folks buy tickets for each basket for $1 a piece.  If yours is drawn, then what's inside is yours.  I'm hoping that my two little sweet green pea pods are popular!

You know, as I look back at these pictures, I see that these were made while my Brother (Oh, my goodness, I LOVE my Brother!) was down for repairs.  I was using my Great Grandmother's 1938 Featherweight.  And it is amazing.  I need to wax it - I got post-it stickum on it, and tried to use water and soap to get it off.  Rookie mistake!  The lovely sheen just disappeared in front of my eyes.  Making a teeny tiny problem much larger! I need to go buy the wax, and polish it.  I'm hoping it's as easy to fix as the on-line references make it sound.  I got this from my Grandmother, who purchased it from her mother.  I will not mention my oops to her - she'd just laugh and shake her head.  I bet she never made that mistake...

 

Do you name your machines?  I've never done it, but I'm starting to feel like they deserve it!  I'm happy to take suggestions for names.  The Brother is an Innov-is Dream Weaver (can't remember the model number) and she(?) works really well.  It's got a massive throat - truly you can quilt a king without killing yourself. Of course, since it's entirely electronic, something gets a little out of whack, and it has problems.  I'm blessed that I purchased it at Quality Sewing and Vacuum and they have provided me EXCEPTIONAL customer service.   If I ever have questions or a problem, they make it right.

 

I hope your summer was fantastic!

 

"Any day with fabric is a good day..."

Itsy Bitsy Bits of Progress

I've been making bits of progress on a variety of projects. I actually finished the quilt top that goes with these photos, but I don't have a photo of the top. That will come later.  By the way, when squaring and trimming half square triangles, don't try and answer the phone - it doesn't bode well for accurate cuts.

I've been working on a pillow for swap my guild is having at this week's meeting. It will be white elephant style and I'm excited to see what my guild mates have made. Because it isn't public yet, that picture too will have to wait. But, here's a snippet.

My most on-going project is my version of La Passacaglia.  I've been working on it on and off for forever. I took it with me on the 10 day road trip.  I only ended up working on it for a few minutes. I couldn't work on it in the car unless I wanted to be terribly car sick. The one time I sat down to work on it (doing laundry at the hotel), one of our trip "adventures" struck. I didn't get to pick it up again, although, my sewing travel kit pretty much lived in my purse.

Oh, travel "adventure" you ask? Our vacation was one of those that you look back on afterwards and laugh and tell stories. I'll leave them to another post, 'cuz this is a whole other story...

 

 

So, what can we do?

I am a part of a bee.  There are 6 of us.  Two, 12" blocks. I picked last so that I would have time to decide on a block I wanted to pick.  Paper piecing was off limits, so of course, EVERY block I liked was a paper-pieced block.  I've been worrying about this in the back of my brain since January.  For those of you that don't know me, if there is something I can possibly worry about, I will.  I had no idea what to pick.  Colors would be easy (yes, blue and green) but the block left me cold.

Then Orlando happened.  Along with most of America, I was(am!)  feeling hurt and frustrated.  There had to be a quilting response, and Alissa Lapinsky and the Orlando MQG stepped in.  They are making/organizing quilts for the victims who survive, the families of those who didn't, and, if there is enough, the first responders.  When I saw the blocks, 10" hearts, I knew the blocks I wanted for my bee blocks.

A quick text to my bee mates with the link http://theorlandomodernquiltguild.blogspot.com/ and they were more than on board.  Since there were 6, and there are 6 colors in the rainbow, each person picked a color and volunteered to make 5 each. 

When it's right, you know.  This is a far better use of blocks than any I could have hoped for myself. 

So I'll make at least one quilt, and send it off.  And maybe I'll make more. Making these was more therapeutic than I thought it would be.  Maybe there are dozens more in my stash...

To quote Lin-Manuel Miranda "Senseless acts of tragedy remind us that nothing here is promised, not one day."  and "Love is Love is Love is Love - it cannot be killed or swept aside."

Love each other!

Another baby quilt in the works

And another baby quilt on deck! My school has another Daddy. He actually became a Daddy a while ago, but my Assistant Principal wants to honor that sweetie with a quilt as well. Since there is no due date, per se, and it could be made whenever, I had to make my own due date. I made it due at the end of May. As you can see, it's June, and it's not done.  Oops!

Hopefully it will be a pieced top by the end of the evening. I don't think it'll be a quilt until tomorrow. We shall see!

I Just Need to Make Something!

Some times you just need to play with your sewing machine. You need to MAKE something. "Hey, I've got a 'skein' of clothes line, let's see what I can do..."

The inspiration really hails from Leyda Greenwood in my TacMQGuild. We did an orphan block swap and she made a cooler version of this from the block she got. I loved it! I've made fabric bowls before, but they were completely covered in fabric. This has a more modern aesthetic, with the line showing mostly, and bits of color appearing.

I should have used a bigger width cord, as the teeny tiny width that was available at my local Fred Meyer is toooo skinny.  There is no strength in it, and the bowl is super floppy. It will need to just sit somewhere, it's not meant to carry an object from place to place.  There are two more skeins that need to be used - I'll have to figure out a way to use more fabric or somehow shore up the sides and base.

I'm proud of the swirl I added at the very end. It's a nice flourish. I think I'll play with curves and gaps next. Leyda posted a tutorial and it was inspiring.  If i can find it again,  I'll link it here.

Best,

Time Flies...

And somehow, a month has gone by since I last posted. I see why folks set a schedule for themselves regarding posting.  I also see why some of my favorite bloggers don't post regularly. 

I've had some finishes, but I couldn't show them yet. 

I am in a baby bee.  There are 6 of us in my local guild, and we are doing a 2 block swap.  The queen for the month gives us a pattern and fabric range.  Then we go to work.  There have been some great blocks so far, of course I didn't take pictures of all of them.  Now that I have given these two away, I'm sharing.  Her request was blues and greens, not in the local sports teams color way.  I hope she likes them. 

Also, this is teacher appreciation week.  As a high school teacher, it is not much celebrated.  But at the elementary level - it's a big deal.  My son's teacher this year (How did he get to be in 5th grade?!?!?!) has been marvelous.  She is just compulsive enough about germs (everyone uses hand sanitizer!) and structure that my compulsive kiddo is a perfect fit.  She is also a first year teacher, so that is just tough!  I appreciate how my son is blossoming during the year.  So, as a quilter, I made her a gift.  Actually, I try to be careful about that.  It's such a personal taste thing - just because I like it, doesn't mean anyone else will.  And by the time elementary folks have been teaching a while, they have a ton of tchotchkes and a hand made gift is not as welcome as a pack of dry erase markers, or a box of pencils.  We've done flower pots and a plant before, among other things, but I try to avoid the decorative route.  When I asked my son if he wanted to give her a plant he said "Well, you could make one of those..." and motioned the size of a mug rug.  He just asked me to make a quilt for someone!!!!! Why, yes, I can...

So armed with a little information ("Ryan gave her a mug, and she said it was her favorite colors - teal and green") and a visit to the stash, this appeared by 11:30 pm last night.  I hope she likes it!


I hope your spring is going well -- I wish you the weather you need, and hopefully want!

Cheers!