Who needs sleep?

Not me! Donald's joy at seeing his completed signature quilt, ready to be delivered to his departing student teacher today at her going away party, cleared the cobwebs from my head that lingered after getting less than 4 hours of sleep.

I just hope I don't nod off in the middle of something important...ZZZZZzzzzzzz.....

Signed...and partially sealed

Donald collected all the signatures at school on Monday, and I spent Monday evening rearranging and putting the top together. Here's what I finally came up with: (and yes, I said "I"; Donald deserted me to watch TV, the little stinker!)




Then on Tuesday, I sandwiched it and started quilting it with straight lines outlining the diagonal blocks using my walking foot. I am almost done quilting, but not quite because I had to go back to work to speak on a panel on College Access for Underserved Populations last night, and then had to read applications until 11 PM. Ugh! Busy season at work, yet again!!!



I had to come back to work again tonight, and I will be taking files home to read again, but I am determined to finish quilting and attached the binding tonight, because this baby has to be delivered on Friday - the student teacher's last day. Wish me luck (and copious amounts of caffeine!).

Scrap attack!

Have you noticed I haven't done much quilting lately? Reading, yes. Sewing up little gifts and whatnot, yes. But quilting, no. I couldn't take it anymore! I had to get up to my elbows in scraps and work on a quilt (or two, or three).

I started by helping Donald work on a quilt. His student teacher is leaving at the end of the week, and he wanted to make a quilt for her, so I helped him sew up blocks for a signature quilt using some pre-cut 5.5" squares that I inherited from someone somewhere down the line. He picked out the fabrics to use (from a stack of coordinating sqaures), he used the presser foot while I steering the fabric under the needle, he cut the chain pieced segments apart, and he pressed them open on the ironing board. He got a bit tired of it all, and started lamenting the fact that there were 23 kids in his class.

"I should have done this last year in kindergarten when there were only 11 of us," he sighed.

I sent the blocks in with him this morning for the teacher to have all the kids sign one, and then we'll hopefully put it together tonight with the upper and lower borders that you can see in the photo above that I made to make it more square. It is only about 30" square, and I plan to machine quilt with some straight stitches. I've even already made the binding!

I also made a couple more of my leader and ender blocks using 1.5" squares (these blocks finish 6.5" square, and the whole purpose is to use up that black floral - I had a bunch of pre-cut 4.5" squares of it that I wanted OUT of my scraps tin).


I also worked on whittling down my stash of strings because they no longer fit in my strings tin. I whipped up a couple more Virginia Bound blocks (an adaptation of a Bonnie Hunter quilt in her Scraps and Shirttails book). I love these blocks, and can't wait until I have enough to sew them together and have a quilt already! (only 37 more blocks to go...ugh! when I put it that way, it seems like it will NEVER happen!)


I've also had time this past week to work on hand quilting my Pick and Choose quilt.

No new photos, but slowly, slowly, it is coming along. Dare I say that I hope to have it done before Christmas? Did I just jinx myself?

I also want to share with everyone the bag that I received from Janet. I won a giveaway on her blog, and she made me this bag. I love it!

She made the handles in a very clever way so you can use them either long or short - genius! And check out her free motion quilting - I am in awe and so envious of her ability!

She included a beautiful fabric postcard that she made, but I forgot to take a photo of it. Thanks so much, Janet!

Thank goodness, it's November!

I swear, our lives have been consumed by Halloween in the Hutchinson household! First, all the angst about what to be. Then the angst about whether or not the costume parts that we ordered online would arrive on time. Then Friday night, we went to a costume party at the karate dojo. Saturday, after I worked all morning, I hosted a Halloween party for 11 scouts and siblings at my house, followed by a 5 kid sleepover for a Halloween Movie Marathon (kid Halloween movies, not THE Halloween movies). The extra kids were gone by noon on Sunday, and no one will be surprised that I spent the rest of the day laying about in bed with occasional trips to the kitchen for sustenance. I'm proud to say that I also managed to sweep floors, wash dishes and do two loads of laundry - but besides that, I was a complete slug!

Then, of course, came actual Halloween! We trick-or-treated til we couldn't trick-or-treat anymore! (Do you like my homemade rosary? The cross is cut from a cereal box and covered with red fabric. The beads are actually a red fish necklace that my son brought home from fish release day at school when they released the trout babies that they were raising in a tank at school.)

We will have candy until my children have children! The kids are thrilled, but all I can think about is my non-existent willpower. (sigh) Pass me another Snickers, will you?

Today, I am happy to put the costumes away, and head home after school/work to SEW! I already warned the kids that I wasn't leaving the house this afternoon or evening. Today is for me! I wonder what I will sew today...

And thank you to everyone who voted for Jason's Halloween quilt this weekend. He didn't win, but he was so tickled to see that he got votes and came in 5th!

The EASIEST thing I have ever made!

Not too much sewing going on. I think all the travel and karate build up and painting my basement burned me out, and all I've felt like doing lately is curling up with a book. My regular readers know that cozy mysteries are my books of choice. I finished the second Leann Sweeney, Cats in Trouble book, The Cat, The Professor and The Poison. Enjoyed it!


I have another Arlene Sachitano to read, but they really aren't my favorite, even with quilts involved, so I'm sitting on that one for a while. Instead, I picked up Farm Fresh Murder by Paige Shelton, the first of the Farmer's Market Mysteries. Enjoyed it!


Now I'm reading one of Maggie Sefton's Knitting Mysteries, Dyer Consequences. There's a certain formula that works for me:

• female protagonist


• making it on her own with a home business or crafting business


• character development! I don't just want to know what they do, I want to know why and how they feel about it and what scares them and what their sense of humor is like! (I think that's why I don't like Arlene Sachitano's books - there isn't much character development)

Anyway, I forced myself down into my sewing room and started working on some Christmas presents. One is for my sister who periodically reads this, so I can't share a photo, but I also worked on some stocking stuffers. I was thinking of making snap shut change purses, and I probably still will, but I also found a tutorial for a travel tissue case. I started with one for myself, since I hate when the plastic wrap crinkles up in my purse and then the tissues appear dirty.


Oh my goodness! If this wasn't THE EASIEST THING I have EVER made! Even with the boxed corners, which, I think, makes it look much more finished (and cute!). It took so little time that I made two more while timing myself. 18 minutes from start to finish to make a pair! No way!

So I made 5 more - IN 35 MINUTES!!!

Folks, if you are looking for a quick stocking stuffer that uses up scraps and takes practically no time to make, look no further! I followed the tutorial found here. Tonight, I'm going to change my thread and make some light colored ones (I had black thread in the machine, so these were all with dark fabrics). I'm addicted! I'm almost hoping people get the sniffles so I can offer them some tissues!

Are you dressing up for Halloween? I'm going to be a nun. Not sure I can pull that off, because I sure as heck am not a saint, but I'm gonna try! And I need to hang up Jason's Halloween Quilt. Remember this, his first quilt from two years ago?

I added it to the Quilting Gallery Weekly Theme Quilt Contest. Take a peek, and if you vote for him and he wins, I promise that HE will get the fabric winnings! He is already letting me know that he needs to build his stash! Love it!

I did it!

I cried when Master Clements tied the belt around my waist. I think one of the best feelings in the world is when you surprise yourself with your own tenacity, when you do something that you never really thought you could do. Thank you all for supporting me on my Black Belt journey.

And my UKE was wearing his double pot holder from the time he opened it until the time I left the gym. I think he liked his gift.

I robbed a squirrel!

OK, so not really. But I did make "acorns" this morning to put in my kids' lunchboxes as a treat and to bring in to the office. Yummy! I got the idea from an email from the Cotton Patch Quilt Shop yesterday - did anyone else see that? I had to run out after work and get the necessary supplies because I couldn't get them off my mind!


That sugar has kept me going today because I stayed up late finishing my gift for my UKE, a reversible apron to go with the double potholder I made for him over the weekend. I'm going to add 3 cookbooks that I don't use and call it good. Here's one side:

And some detailing of the other side, which exactly the same except the fabric placement is reversed:

And here's one of my good sport co-workers modeling it for me since I wasn't sure how it would fit a 6 foot tall man (being a 5 foot tall woman myself). He is holding my "oh so hot!" candy dish. :)


I hope he likes it. But even more, I hope I do OK on this test tomorrow. Please send "kick butt!" thoughts my way tomorrow at 10 AM EST. Hopefully my next post will start,

"Hi, I'm Erin - I'm a black belt in karate - Hutchinson."