Sewing up a storm

I've been doing my best to sew a bit every single day during this holiday break.  I finished quilting my niece's quilt and got the binding on just moments before they left after spending time here for the holidays.

I'm working on clues 5 and 6 of the On Ringo Lake mystery quilt simultaneously.

And I'm answering the call for quilt blocks for the California Thomas Fire.

6 blocks - super quick with my bins of precut scraps

Just three days left of break - just three days left of sewing for hours on end.  How I love vacation!  Back to the sewing room!

The trifecta of quilting bliss!

Today was my last day at home alone for this Thanksgiving break.  Tomorrow, I'll collect the kids from school and head north to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  I'm really looking forward to it, but in the meantime, I've been doing my best to take advantage of these hours alone at home.

I spent my day enjoying the three parts of quilting that I love most - hand quilting, piecing and pulling fabrics.

First, I pulled out my niece's quilt.  She's turning two in a month, and I still haven't given it to her!  I'm determined to have it under the tree for her this year, along with a handmade stuffed animal, a sample from my shop.  Hand quilting takes me FOREVER, but I'm doing simple straight lines, so it shouldn't take too long.  I hate marking quilts, so I use painter's tape - anyone else do that?

My niece's quilt top

How I love sitting under a quilt while I hand quilt it!

I helped make this giraffe sample when I owned my shop.  Now that I no longer own the shop, samples make great gifts!

Then I went back to the Christmas quilt.  What does it say about me that I am already a bit bored with that project?  But just you wait - by the time this break is over, I'll have a completed top. 

On the couch back, since I don't have a design wall.  And terrible lighting - it sure does get dark early here in Massachusetts

Then, so I'm ready to jump into the fray when I return from my mom's house in New Hampshire, I pulled my fabrics for Bonnie Hunter's new mystery, On Ringo Lake.  The first clue goes live on Friday.

Chocolate browns, aquas to turquoise, coral to melon ,and neutrals

I won't be back on here until after Thanksgiving, so have a great one, everyone!

Flying Right Along!

I FINALLY pieced a back for my niece's log cabin quilt.  I don't know what my problem is - I will put a million pieces together to make a quilt top, but if my backing fabric isn't big enough, I screech to a halt at the thought of piecing a backing.  However, my sister is coming for a visit at the beginning of April with my niece and nephew, and I'd love to send my niece's quilt home with them.  I got the back pieced and the quilt sandwiched in about an hour and a half, and have spent several hours hand quilting it so far.

The front of little Cecelia's quilt

The pieced back of Cecelia's quilt - happy to report that I completely used up those scraps in the back!

I've also now received all of my Block Lotto winnings from January, so it is time to PLAY with layout.  I am determined to get these sewn into a top SOONER rather than later - I love them!  I think I'm going to make a few more blocks, though...

And look what I picked up at an auction earlier this week!  I spied this cute little wooden sewing box, which, in reality, isn't in the best shape, but when I opened it up and saw all the wooden spools, I just HAD to have it!

Life is good.

The sun is shining, and the temps are mild.

I have finished reading application files for the season, so my free time is back to being my free time.

My mom is here for a visit.

Lots of fun things are happening at my shop.

Life is GOOD!

(I'm linking up with Oh Scrap!)

Snow Day Sewing

This snowstorm has been such a godsend!  I really needed some time to unwind and sleep in, plus catch up on some chores, work and, of course, SEWING!  One of my goals this year was to bust some UFOs. I'm happy to report that one is DONE!  Remember my scrappy Log Cabin blocks that I couldn't figure out how to set?  I finally just picked a layout and stitched them together, and I love it!

I'm happy to move this from the UFO pile to the Flimsy Waiting to be Quilted pile. 45" x 63"

I'm pretty sure this will be the quilt I give to my new niece, Cecilia.  I drove to New Hampshire with the boys to meet her last weekend, part of the reason I was so exhausted last week (12 hours one way is a long way to drive with no other drivers), but meeting her was worth it.

Meet Cecelia, my newest niece

I held her as much as I could get away with - unfortunately, I had to share with others.

It also mobilized me to finish a quilt for her.  I already have a backing picked out.  My goal tomorrow is to sandwich and start the hand quilting.

While sewing, I also cut hundreds, literally HUNDREDS, of scraps into squares for use in future projects in an attempt to tame my mountains of scraps.  But some of the scraps didn't get cut up.  Instead, I experimented with a string quilt block I found online earlier today.

I know it is bold of me to use orange as the strips around the center of the block, but I had some orange strips already cut, so I thought "What the heck?"  After all, the point is to use up scraps I already have, not make new ones.  I love the finished quilts at the end of the string quilt block post - I'm hoping I'll love my version, too!

I'm glad I made that list of goals at the beginning of the month - it is helping me to focus my efforts when I go down into the sewing room.

Indecision

I went down to the sewing room to finally piece this log cabin quilt together, but I couldn't decide on a layout.  I can't believe how much time I wasted rearranging the blocks; I didn't sew a single seam.  Help me out, will ya?  This is destined to be a baby or lap quilt, 54" square.  I don't want to make more blocks, I just want to sew them together.  Which layout would YOU choose?

Layout 1

Layout 2

Layout 3

Layout 4

Layout 5

OK, after seeing them all on here, I think one has emerged as my favorite.  Let's see if you feel the same...

When everything is going to pieces around me...

One of the benefits of having a hobby is having an outlet when everything around me seems to be going wrong.  My car just spent time in the shop, emerging after nearly $4000 in repairs.  My son gets braces this month to the tune of over $5000.  My ancient computer won't turn on, so I can no longer put off getting a new one.  Someone went through my wallet this week, so I spent had to cancel all my bank and credit card accounts and get new ones.  Granny has been agitated lately, and has woken us up three times in the middle of the night this week.  In short, I am tired, worried about money, and frustrated with things that don't work.

But through it all, I quilt.  I am a half square triangle making machine for my Carpenter's Wheel quilt.

I've made a few more blocks for my plaid quilt.

My Quilting The Basics: Log Cabin Quilts class started this week at the shop, and I've been having a ball simultaneously making class samples and taming the scrap bins.

I am so thankful to be a quilter, to be able to build quilts when things around me are falling apart.

Definition of a baby quilt

Babies are everywhere around me these days.  Two of my local friends just had babies.  My younger sister just discovered that she is pregnant.  And last week I received a text from another friend that she is having a baby, too!  You know what that means, right?  BABY QUILTS!!!

Part of me wants to use quilts that I've already started rather than start new quilts.  I have so many UFOs that it is embarrassing.  But what makes a quilt a baby quilt?  The size?  The colors?  The pattern?  I pulled out some of my current and not-so-current projects to see what I have to work with. First, there's the blue quilt I started this week.  I've got 30 of the 50 blocks done.  It should be 50" square, or I can make it 40" x 60".  Which size would be more useful?  Which will look better?  We'll have to see.  Would this work as a baby quilt?

I started this scrappy log cabin thinking it would be a baby quilt, but then had second thoughts.  What do you think - would this work as a baby quilt?

I've got many more blocks of this version of Bonnie Hunter's Virginia Bound than I thought.  I could finish a baby top in an evening from these.  But I kinda had my eye on this one for myself...

These bright blocks Summer Breeze would make a nice baby quilt, don't you think?  The only problem is, I only have one completed block and two  nearly completed blocks.  There would be a lot of work for me to get this one finished up, but at least I had the foresight to keep the fabrics together with the blocks so I didn't use them I something else.

I've got a bunch of these I Spy blocks I've been making from novelty fabrics that come into my possession.  I guess that is always an option, but the thought of working on this doesn't excite me right now.

Maybe my flannel buzz saw blocks?  Flannel would be so soft and cozy for a baby!  But where ARE my flannel buzz saw blocks? Uh oh, UFO missing!!  It's probably for the best - I doubt I want to work with flannel during these warmer months, anyway.  Hopefully it will turn up before fall...

But look what I DID find!  I'd already started quilting this one, so I'm making an Executive Decision and declaring this a baby quilt!  It has just been bumped up to the top of my hand quilting list.

Any thoughts or comments?  I'd love to know how you approach making baby quilts.

Will you help me decide? (giveaway)

My sister called with something akin to panic in her voice, wondering if I had dropped off the face of the earth.  Apparently, I haven't posted anything on my blog for a while.  OK, sis, I get the hint.  It's just that I haven't done anything new lately, and I don't want to bore anyone, myself included.

But seriously, I have made significant progress hand quilting my Charm lap/baby quilt.  I'm hoping to have it done this weekend. I like the meander around the polka dots on the backing, but it isn't the fastest way to quilt. 

The back - I'm quilting from the back with the dots as a guide

The front - makes me even more diligent about making sure my stitches are even since it is the back of my quilting that will be on the front of my quilt!

For my next hand quilting project, I want to do something even simpler, something with straight lines, either a crosshatch or outline stitch.  And I would like my next quilt that I finish to be one that is big enough to sleep under.  So, I pulled out my quilt tops and selected the bed-sized ones that could conceivably look nice with simple, straight line stitching. 

I can't decide which to quilt first, so I'm hoping you all will help me decide.  There will be a fabric surprise in store for one lucky commenter - I plan to use some credit at a quilt shop next week to buy some batting, and I'm willing to use some of that credit on one of you.  Let me know which of the following quilts YOU think I should quilt next, and if you want to suggest a quilting motif, too, even better!  Next Tuesday (4/10/12), I'll choose a random commenter and find out what kind of fabric that person would like me to find for him/her at the quilt shop next week.  Just consider me your personal shopper!

Anyway, here are the options, with names that I am trying out for now.  Feel free to suggest better names if you think of something. (ignore the wrinkles - the poor tops have been squirreled away in an armoire for months, or even YEARS, in some cases.  I swear I could hear them breathe a sigh of relief to see the light of day when I pulled them out!):

A. Plaid Dresden

It isn't really as washed out looking as it appears in this bright sunlight

B. Ribbon of Hope

Flapping in the breeze - this quilt just wouldn't stay still for a photo!  It was like photographing one of my children!

C. Star Power

I completely forgot I had made this top!

D. Lincoln Logs

I thought you were supposed to photograph your quilts in natural light - why do all mine seem so washed out?

E. Make Mine Nine

Just pretend this is a decent photo - I despair of ever getting a good-looking shot of these quilts!

Got an opinion about which I should plan to quilt next?  I'd love to hear it!

Some of you may be wondering what I've been doing since I haven't whipped out anything new or finished anything old lately.  Honestly, I've been reading.  Somehow I completely missed that Jennifer Chiaverini's Sonomo Rose came out, so that's what I'm reading now.  I didn't even realize it was an Elm Creek Quilts book since it doesn't have "quilt" in the name, like all the others do!  I also discovered a new-to-me cozy mystery series.  Some of you know I grew up (mostly) in Maine and that I majored in Archaeology in college.  Dana Cameron writes a series of mysteries with a female archaeologist from Maine named Emma Fielding as the protagonist.  I picked up the first book in the series, Site Unseen, at a used book store last weekend and blazed through it, thoroughly enjoying it.  The only thing that could have made it better is some quilts.  And lucky me, there are 5 more books to enjoy in the series!  I ordered the 2nd and 3rd in the series from paperbackswap.com.  Which of you introduced me to that site, anyway?  I have yet to properly thank you - I LOVE IT!  It is my go-to location when I am looking to acquire new books, and such a great way to unload the books I have that I don't want to keep.

I've also been playing basketball.  Me, the 5 foot tall soccer player (well, 25 years ago, anyway) who has never played an organized game of basketball in my life!  I got together a team of women (we called ourselves the I Team - I for Ibruprofen!) who also work at the University where I work, and we've played a game every week for the last 5 weeks against some sorority girls, also known as tall, quick, lithe, energizer bunnies half our age.  We beat them the first 4 times out, but last night, we just couldn't keep up and lost.  I can't wait to play again next year!  My bruises should have faded by then...

The chicken coop is coming together slowly.  Unfortunately, I approached its construction much like I do my quilts, with a general idea of what I want, but no pattern.  I've discovered it is easier to fudge things with fabric than with wood.  And my kids have the attention span of gnats, so they only ever want to work on it for about 20 minutes before they lose interest and want to skateboard or ride bikes or do anything other than build.  We might not have chickens for a long time...

I've also been busy with Cub Scouts.  We've been working on Language and Culture Belt Loops and Pins, which included a trip to a Mexican restaurant in town with some native speakers and a performance of a skit/song at last night's pack meeting where I was the ONLY ONE SINGING!  The little twerps left me hanging out to dry, which was unfair since they were wearing homemade Elephant masks to disguise themselves and I was just myself.  We've also been working on Art Belt Loops and Pins, which included a visit to an art gallery with lots of western (read Cowboys and Indians) art that the boys loved.  And finally, we've been working on Disability Awareness Belt Loops and Pins, which included a trip to a Special Olympics event and a visit from a blind Eagle Scout who shared with us his guide dog, his cane, his talking computer, his braille, and his Goalball.  Goalball is a Paralypmics sport, and he was on a world championship 19-and-under team, and is still playing now on the US National Team.  Needless to say, not only were the boys rapt, but so were the parents!  Cub Scouts is a lot of time and effort and work for me, but it is one of the most rewarding things that I do!

As of last weekend, it is Drive-In Movie season again.  I'm still on the Board of Directors, and still the Volunteer Coordinator, so that is keeping me busy, too.  We'll be heading there tonight for a double feature of kids movies - The Adventures of TinTin and We Bought A Zoo.  I'm not sure who's more excited, the kids or me!

Finally, I'm still teaching karate once a week, as well as taking classes myself.  I find it hard to believe that I enjoy teaching it even more than I enjoy learning it myself.  I know I do a lot, but they are all things that I really enjoy doing - how can I say "no"?

And for those of you who are wondering, no, I didn't quit my job.  I'm still going there every day, too.  Somehow I convinced myself that things would slow down in April, but I haven't had lunch or left on time all week. (sigh) I'm so glad I enjoy my job since I spend so much time there.

I'm going to pay for this...

...but I took ALL DAY on Saturday to do what I wanted to do. I figured I'd be more motivated at work if I took a teensy little break from it. You better believe that a large chunk of Saturday was devoted to sewing. I finished the blocks needed to make that extra row on my scrappy log cabin quilt, and then put the top together. It was technically Sunday when I put the last stitch in...




I also spent some time quilting my little ELLA name quilt. I went with a very Tonya-esque freehand Baptist Fan.


So I'm happy with how my weekend worked out - warm weather and sunshine, some sewing, a trip to visit my mom, yummy winnings at the kids' school fundraiser CakeWalk, karate, sleeping in, air hockey tournaments with the kids, videos with the family, and the list goes on - but I'll be kicking myself tomorrow when I realize how much work I have yet to do.

Fighting through the inertia

Do you ever WANT to quilt, but you just can't muster up the energy and enthusiasm? That has been me lately. But this weekend, I decided to fight through it and CREATE. It helps that I was home during daylight hours - I feel much more creative when it is light outside.

I started by cleaning up my sewing room a bit. I had two big quilting frames set up, but wasn't using either one except for storage, so I dismantled one, freeing up more space. I rearranged my sewing table and my ironing board so there is more natural light on my workspace. And then I started with something quick and easy - a new pillow for my dog using some super thick batting and some home dec weight fabric that was gifted to me. So far, he hasn't eaten it. Instead, he has parked himself on there, and my husband says he has to physically drag him off the pillow in the morning when he wants him to go outside. I love a gift that is loved, even if it is by a dog!

(that blue and orange thing is another gift that he loved - a duck that has been decapitated and had the stuffing eaten out of him, but the dog absolutely LOVES it!)

Then I finished up the last of the scrappy log cabin blocks. As it now stands, the quilt will be about 64" square, not quite as big as I'd like it, but I don't have enough of the center fabric to make enough blocks to make it larger on all sides. Perhaps a thin-ish border and then a piano key border of scraps? Or, there's enough for one more row of blocks, so perhaps a border and then a "pillow row" of blocks? (I don't know the actual term when you have a row of blocks that is meant to lay over the pillows...is there an actual term for that?) Any other ideas out there for making this big enough to cover a twin bed?


While working on those blocks, I made some more free pieced letters as my leader and ender project. I'm not really loving the S, so we'll see if that stays or goes. I have some ideas about how to pull it all together...


And when it is dark outside, I'd rather be curled up in bed or on the couch than in my sewing room. So on Saturday night, I turned on the TV (gasp! yes, I turned on the TV. I remembered how it worked! It has truly been a while since I've watched the boob tube.) and finished up the last few stitches in my mother's Christmas quilt (yup, gave it to her for Christmas and then took it back because I wasn't done) while watching PRETTY WOMAN.




(Another aside, does anyone else just inexplicably LOVE that movie? I could watch it a hundred times and not tire of it, but I'm not quite sure why. Well, I know Richard Gere is definitely part of the reason. I remember the first two movies I ever saw on VCR back when our family first discovered VCRs in the 80s - The Neverending Story and The Cotton Club. Richard Gere was a horn player in The Cotton Club and my adolescent self fell in love with him. That adolescent self still lives on in me.)

So, anyway, the quilt is done, and I hope to give it back to my mom this weekend when I hope to go visit her. (Are you reading this, Mom? If so, can I come visit on Saturday? I'll call you.)

And then, finally, last night I decided to watch the Netflix movie that has been sitting on my counter since just before Christmas (NOT joking!). DUMMY. Not me, that's the name of the movie. I don't remember picking it out, and when it arrived, I just wasn't moved to watch it. But I popped it in last night and started the Birdie Stitches BOM that I've been wanting to do.

Hmmm...just went looking for that link and found a flicker photo stream and it seems everyone else's snowmen are white. Certainly he didn't HAVE to be white, did he? I'm just gonna say mine was so cold he turned blue. And now looking at the directions, apparently I was supposed to do a back stitch. I don't even know what a back stitch is. I did stem stitch, because that is all I know so far. I hope there aren't embroidery police out there! Anyway, I enjoyed the movie much more since I was stitching. Otherwise, I don't think it is one I would have sat through until the end.

So, I feel like I'm back in the saddle again, which is good because I need to get the Cub Scout quilt's final border on and sandwich it so we can practice our knots on Monday as we tie the quilt. And truly, I'd like to give Donald his Boys Will Be Boys quilt before winter is over - that needs sandwiching and quilting. And in case you were wondering, he's been good at school two days in a row and today at homework time, HE initiated, pulled everything out of his backpack and called me over to get started and did everything with enthusiasm and a good attitude. I'll be putting Donald's photo on a milk carton because OBVIOUSLY this wasn't my kid who came home with me today, but a good-natured, homework-loving look-alike imposter. But seriously, I was so proud of him and told him how I actually enjoyed doing homework with him today. It may not last forever, but I'll bask in it as long as it does!

Construction zone

I didn't sew at all on Monday. Nothing, nada, zip, zilch. I was determined to make up for it on Tuesday. And when I got to my mailbox and received my teeny, tiny house fabric from Beth, I knew just what I was going to work on!




I couldn't just put this little piece of fabric away for another day; it is too small - it would be lost. But what to do with it? I had 9 little 1.5" HST units that I found when straightening up on Sunday, maybe I could start by surrounding it with those.

Duh, Erin, you need 16 to go all the way around, not 9! OK, maybe just on 2 sides? Nah. Sides and bottom and then a sky with a fussy cut sun and moon up top and flowers in the lower corners?

Nah, I like the flowers in the corners, but I want those HST units on all sides. And then maybe I can set it in a golden field like this one that reminds me of the golden hills outside my window beyond my immediate yard. Perhaps with a little border first.

But I'm out of energy to go digging through all my scraps looking for more of those two particular fabrics used in those HST however many years ago when I cut them off as bonus triangles from another project. That's a project for another day.

Meanwhile, my scrappy log cabin continues to grow.


And BONUS! While looking for scraps to use with my teeny tiny house, I found more of the yellow that I used for the centers of my log cabins. I was afraid that I didn't have any more and thought my log cabin quilt would be limited in size because of it, but now, I have enough of that yellow to make it as big as I want. Big enough for a twin bed, at least, is what I'm thinking now. I just love feeling like I am using up my scraps, although you wouldn't notice when looking at my scrap bags.

And I want to get back to my color words at some point. And figure out what I'm going to do next with the chicks and coffee. And finish piecing my Virginia Bound quilt before Bonnie Hunter gets here next month. Why, oh why, couldn't we have had a snow day like most of the rest of the country (at least that's how it seems!).

By the way, we did have a 2-hour delay this morning, which makes me happy because I get to sleep in until it is light out AND take my time eating breakfast, but they make both of my children sad. When I told them, Donald slumped over and moaned, "We still have to go to school!?!" Jason slumped over and said, "We have to miss part of the school day!?!" Why did I think having one kid prepared me for having two? They are as different as crocodiles and porcupines!