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.

Staying the course

I know it is early in the year to be crowing about goals met, but I'm staying on track so far to get my quilting life organized and under control.  I made my 9 Block Lotto blocks for this month,

6" Birds in the Air

and every time I had to press a piece for the blocks, I also pressed a scrap (or two or five) and took them to the cutting mat to cut them to size.  LOTS of scrap management happened this weekend!  I posted 3 more fabrics to my Etsy shop.  And I'm completely moved back into my sewing room, although I do have one corner of STUFF that is still not organized and put away.  I'm tackling it a little bit at a time, and doing a pretty good job of getting rid of things I'll likely never use.  Yay me!

The Skeletons in My Closet

My husband and I are switching rooms again, his office and my sewing room.  I'm not-so-secretly THRILLED because that means I'm moving back into the room we originally planned to be my sewing room when we finished our basement: it is bigger, has much better natural light, has a closet and has walk-out doors to the yard.  Happy me!  Except moving all my sewing supplies is a lot of work, taking time away from actual sewing.

However, the beginning of the year is the time to re-assess and re-group and clean anyway, right?  I've been feeling a little overwhelmed in my sewing space, so time to get my act together down there. As I moved things over to the new room, I took time to organize them and make lists.

Oh, boy.  Making lists illuminates so much, sometimes things that you'd prefer to remain obscure.
Like how many UFOs I have: 28
Like how many completed tops I have that need quilting: 25
Like how many quilts I am currently quilting (I'm a hand quilter): 7

Top shelf = UFOs, middle shelf = flimsies, bottom shelf = being quilted
(ignore the defunct water softener in the yard outside the window - it is headed to the dump)

I know that I am a process person, not a finisher - that's no secret.  But this is a bit out of control, don't you think?

On to the fabric stash.  Much of it is contained in these drawers, neatly enough for me.  Then there's another HUGE drawer of a dresser that is also full of assorted yardage that doesn't fit in these drawers.

The smaller drawers are sorted by color - the larger drawers are for novelty (2 drawers) and multicolor florals (1 drawer)

But any of you who know me knows that I work primarily with scraps.  They make my heart SO HAPPY!  They are the first place I go when I start a block.  I pre-cut scraps into various squares from 1.5" to 5".  They are relatively neatly organized.

No worries - I won't be leaving these in the window for long; they are just here while I rearrange and figure out where to put things.  There is also a big drawer full of 5" squares and a baggie full of 3.5" squares.  I have the same system at work, with about as many pre-cut squares, but that's at work so it doesn't count, right?

BUT (and this is a huge but), I am a bit behind on my scrap cutting.  These 3 tubs, box and plastic bag are scraps (hangs head in shame).

Ignore the mess ON the futon - that's just stuff I haven't put away yet.

And then, there's one more skeleton in the closet that needs exposing.  Remember how I'm a process person?  Sometimes I make just one block.  For the process, not to make a quilt.  Or I abandon a quilt idea altogether after making some blocks.  So I have some orphans.  Or more accurately, HUNDREDS of orphans.

To be fair to myself, I did INHERIT some of these orphans, and I also dumped all of the bonus triangles I have sewn into this drawer, too.

But no worries, I have a plan!

1. I will dedicate a minimum of 15 minutes a day cutting scraps.  I recognize that there will be days when I don't get to cut scraps, and that is OK, but it means I'll need to make up for it on other days.  I have already printed out a calendar to mark on for this, and have been keeping track since January 1.  I am giving myself the winter to get my scraps under control.  When spring arrives on March 20, any untamed scraps must leave my house!
2. I have joined Aunt Marti's UFO Challenge (the challenge is at the bottom of the post).  Hopefully this will help me get 12 UFOs to the flimsy stage. 
3. I will participate in Block Lotto again.  I've enjoyed this in the past, and it gets me using my scraps.  Plus, all the blocks I make LEAVE THE HOUSE instead of staying here and adding to the lists.  (of course, one time I won Block Lotto - those blocks are all together now on the UFO shelf)
4. I will post at least 2 pieces of yardage for sale in my ETSY shop each week to help me de-stash.  Honestly, there's no reason to keep holding onto fabric without ever using it.  I actually started this a month or two ago, and have been headed to the post office at least once a week shipping off fabric.
5. I will finish an orphan quilt by the time the Drive-In opens this season (end of March).  I made an orphan quilt years ago, and loved taking it to the Drive-In movies and on road trips.  In fact, it never left the car until it went missing.  I have plenty of orphans to make another.  I will tie it like I did the last one, not quilt it.  I can do this!
6. I will finish quilting at least 4 quilts by July.  I owe quilts to two babies.  I'm working on one for my mother (shhhh...don't tell!).  And I'll need an entry for the local quilt show like I do every year.  That's a month and a half for each quilt.  The baby quilts and the one for my mother are small-ish.  Not sure yet which I'll choose for the quilt show.

I can DO this.  Just putting my hands on everything as I've moved has been inspiring to me.  I'm itching to get down there and sew, now that it is more organized and I'm in a bigger space.  GO ME!!

The best thing

I help people make things every day, but one project in particular this year has meant more to me than all the others combined.  A friend and former co-worker lost his battle with ALS on February 20 this year.  For the past few months, I've been helping his young widow make two patchwork duvet covers for their small daughters from his t-shirts.  Today, she finished, just in time to wrap them up for Christmas.  I can just imagine the girls snuggling under their daddy's shirts as their mom tucks them in at night.

I am so happy for her, but I'm also feeling a renewed sense of loss.  I've enjoyed getting to know her better during our hours together in the shop.  I've enjoyed reminiscing about Tony.  I've enjoyed spending time with their precious daughters.  I'm sure I'll still see her around, but I'm going to miss our time together.  When I got home tonight, I couldn't stop thinking about Tony and the family he left behind, so I visited his blog, www.dontshrink.com.  I hadn't visited since a few days after his death, so I hadn't realized that Amanda had picked up writing where he left off.  I've been reading with tears streaming down my face for hours, partially from missing Tony, but even more from heartbreak for my new friend, Amanda.  Life has dealt her a tough hand, but she has played it with strength, dignity, humor and humility.  I am honored that she let me be a part of this project, and hopeful that this is the beginning of a new friendship.

Lots of little things

This week was eaten up by lots of little projects, mostly for other people.

• I transferred 11 patches from one boy scout shirt to another.  Pure tedium.  I hate using invisible thread almost as much as I hate sewing things onto sleeves.  Put the two together and  - UGH!
• I hand embroidered a recipient's name onto a quilt her grandmother made her.  Fun, but fiddly.  I prefer to do hand embroidery BEFORE a project is finished, sandwiched and quilted.  I had to be careful to make sure I only went through the top layer of the quilt, not all the way to the back.  I turned out really nice, but, of course, I forgot to take a photo.
• I made some tooth fairy pillows for my nephew since he has his first ever loose tooth.  They chose the brown one, so I guess I'll sell the green one since all my other tooth fairy pillows have sold out.

Tooth Fairy Pillow

Back of Tooth Fairy Pillow where tooth/money goes

They chose this one for my nephew

I wonder how much teeth will cost in their household.

However, some of my finishes were for ME!  I finally wove in the ends of my Isadora Cowl - I've worn it twice already this week; it is so warm and cozy!

We all know by now that my favorite color is orange, right?

I sewed together these orphan pinwheel blocks that were in a bag of donated fabric.  Now what to do with them?

It currently measures 16" x 22".

Do they want to be a mini/doll quilt?  This is about the right size for an American Girl doll, right?  Or are they the start of an Orphan Quilt since I somehow lost the Orphan quilt I finished in July 2010.  I don't even have photos of it anymore.  :(

I have some other little things to get done before heading back to work on Tuesday.

• The person I knit the Little Avery Sweater for, along with a matching hat, has now asked for another hat for a friend.  I'll try to get that done today and in the mail tomorrow.
• Next week's project with the after school program kids is an apron.  We've done some full aprons in the past, so part of me wants to make half aprons.  Anyone have a half apron pattern that they love?  I hope to whip up a sample on Monday.
• And just because no weekend is complete for me without some quality reading time, I want to finish my current cozy (A Novel Time To Die - A Black Cat Bookshop mystery) and spend some more time with Claire and Jamie in Dragonfly in Amber (the second of the Outlander series).  Last weekend I read The Cat, The Sneak and The Secret, the latest of the Cats in Trouble mysteries.  If you like cozies and you haven't read those, the protagonist is a quilter - BONUS!

Well, and then there's that holiday sneaking up on me, the one for which I have done NO creating, NO decorating and NO shopping.  I need to get on the ball!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend, y'all!

Getting into the spirit of things!

I'm that mom who is always too busy to decorate for the holidays, the one who buys the Christmas tree on December 23 (but on the upside, it is usually only half-price by then!).  I promised my kids that it would be different this year.  I still refuse to decorate before December starts, but I'm trying to catch the holiday spirit earlier this year. (and by holiday spirit, I mean decorating spirit.  I believe in holding onto the real "holiday spirit", the spirit of loving and caring for one another, all year long)  So, true to my word, I'm getting started.  I'm teaching a Magic Christmas Stocking class at the shop in a couple of weeks, and a trio of girls from W&L stopped by this week to make some while they were on break from classes.

As I cleaned up our fabric and batting scraps, I got to thinking...what if I made some little stockings, too, for decorating or for giving gift cards?  So, rather than add to my scrap bins, I starting cutting and sewing and before I knew it, I had made 12 mini stockings!!!  I may be slightly addicted.  I still have fabric scraps picked out to make more.

Tomorrow, I plan to put the tree up in my shop window.  I'm pretty sure I'm the only store in town that isn't decorated for the holidays yet.  But usually, I have some vendors who bring in ornaments for sale that I use to decorate the tree, and this year, they are behind schedule.  I can't put up a tree with no ornaments, right?  And I'm too cheap to go out and buy some.  What's a gal to do?  MAKE SOME!

Oh, happy day!  I knew all those plastic thread spools would come in handy!  Using just scraps of ribbon, fabric and beads that I already have on hand, I whipped up 7 ornaments already, and have the fabric strips cut and the paper peeled off the tops/bottoms of the spools to make another 40 or so.  I kept getting interrupted as I did this at work on Small Business Saturday (people are SERIOUS about getting their shopping done! which is GREAT for me, as a shop owner), so I hope to finish them up tomorrow while the shop is closed.

Any other quick and easy ideas for me to decorate using what I have on hand?  I am open to suggestions.  What are YOU doing to decorate this holiday season?

Flipping the script

Have you seen that gorgeous plaid string quilt in Julie K's blog header?  I've been wanting one just like it ever since I first laid eyes on hers.  This fall, I finally started it.  I am using phone book pages as the foundation for my 8" string blocks.  I have a ton of homespuns I have collected over the years for just such a project.  I was sure it would be a quick project; after all, I've made string quilts before.

I was wrong. It's been two and a half months since I started, and this is all I've got.

I've got a LONG way to go!

For some reason, I just haven't been inspired to go down to the sewing room and work on it.  I've been scratching my head about this, trying to figure it out, and I think I finally have an answer.  Even though I am using a variety of plaids in this quilt, and even though I am so excited to have the final result of all those wonderful plaids playing together, working with plaids just isn't all that exciting to me.  Part of the reason I love making scrappy quilts is that I love not knowing what scrap is going to come out to the pile next - a repro? a novelty print? a calico? a geometric? a floral?  With this quilt, I know - whichever piece I pull out will be a plaid.  Ho hum.

So today, I flipped the script.  I'll still work on this quilt, but as a leader and ender project while I work on something else.  Have I finished my log cabin quilt yet? Nope.  How about my Carpenter's Wheel?  Nah.  Instead, I pulled out a baggie of shirting & shirting-like neutrals that I've been wanting to play with, and started making a variation of Bonnie Hunter's Smoky Mountain Stars quilt.  With my significant stash of pre-cut squares, I picked out a bunch of red and blue 2.5" squares, cut my neutrals to 4.5", and got to work.  Quick and easy, just what I need to feel productive again!  Here's what I got done in the hour or so I spent in the sewing room today PLUS 2 sashing strips and a 9-patch cornerstone for the plaid quilt AND a pile of bonus triangles, already sewn up.

Oops!  That top right square is oriented wrong.  I love how a photo helps you really see your project.

I know I should focus on some finishes, but I find the siren call of new beginnings too strong to resist!  Besides, I do have SOME recent finishes under my belt, mostly class samples for the shop.  I'll be teaching a beginning knitting cables class this week, and this cabled cushion is my class sample.

the front

the back - removable so I can change out pillow covers

I'm also teaching 2 sets of kiddos to make turkey potholders this week, just in time for Thanksgiving.  I'll encourage them to use darker fabrics for the turkey bellies, though.  You can see right through this yellow belly to the darker background fabric - oops!

Here's hoping my productive streak continues!