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!

Holiday sewing

Ack!  Nearly another month has passed between posts!  When people say you work harder when you have your own business than when you work for someone else, they aren't lying!  But it is so rewarding, it is worth the extra time and effort.  What that means, however, is that I haven't had many opportunities to sew for me.  Most of what I've made these days are samples for classes at the shop.  But Christmas is coming, and while the business is doing well, money is tight, so I am extra motivated to make as many gifts as possible this year.  I know the holidays are right around the corner, but I'm doing pretty well so far.

I knit a face cloth/dish cloth for a friend.  I'm pairing it with some wonderful handmade Herbal Oatmeal Goat's Milk Soap from my shop.

I now know that a solid is a better choice when incorporating a design (can you see the Christmas Tree?) but this is all that I had on hand.  I don't have a yarn stash.  Yet.

I made some double potholders for a family member.

These were actually a sample for a class, but I love them so much, I'm giving them as a gift.

I made a set of two single potholders with hand pockets on the back for another family member.  The third one (without the hanging loop) is a gift for a sewing friend.  These three blocks were orphans that have been hanging out on my design wall for years now.  I'm glad they now have a purpose.

The loops came out kind of wonky, but I don't care.  I wish you could see how the machine quilting I did makes the stars pop!

I'm almost done knitting a hat for another family member.

Oops!  Left the double points at the shop, so I'll have to hold off on finishing this.

I've made a Union Jack block for a family member who asked for "anything British" for Christmas.  Now, I'm trying to decide what to make with it.  I was thinking another potholder since she likes to cook, but I'm thinking now maybe a bag or a composition book cover.  Right now it is just 9" square, so that's a bit small for a pillow, although I could frame it with some of the red and blue, I guess.  Any ideas out there?

Paper pieced, of course

I've got a couple more projects to knock out in the next couple of days.  What about you guys?  What are you making as gifts for the holidays?

Much better!

Remember how I said there were some things I would do differently if I were to make those pocket potholders again?  I didn't want to forget, so I tried again.  I used an 8.5" block of pieced 1.5" scrap squares (that I already had made) for the front, a 8.5" block of "made" blue fabric for the back (that I had already made), some gold bias binding (leftover from the last potholders I made) and I piece of red binding (from my binding scraps bag, so already cut and pressed).  Gosh, it makes a project much quicker if you just use pieces you have already pieced for other projects!  All I did was quilt the top and the bottom, trim and bind. I made this potholder smaller - 8.25" compared to the 9.5" potholders I made previously.  The size works much better for my hand.  And instead of trying to attach the binding by machine, I did it by hand, and it looks so much nicer!  For some reason, I sewed onto the back and then finished by hand on the front, which is the opposite of how I usually do it, but it turned out fine anyway.

The front

The back - you slide your hand into the pocket so it doesn't fall off your hand. 

Now to make another one. I'm pretty sure potholders like to have a mate for life...

My birthday was fabulous from start to finish.  I had to rent a car for work this week, and look what they had on the lot...

Yup, I rented it.  After all, it was my birthday!

I received a letter from the President of the University passing on some positive feedback he had received about me.  He wrote it two weeks prior, but I was out of the country, so I didn't receive it until my birthday, so it was like a present to me.

My kids bought me some Swedish Fish (one of my favorite candies), and wrote a sweet card that said, "All the years we've known you and you don't look any older!"  Ha!

I bought myself some new sneakers, and my hubby and I had a great workout together on the heavy bag with our new boxing gloves.

I received some flowers and chocolate from my mom and younger sister.

I just love  the view on my porch, with or without flowers!

Everyone I know either called or emailed or Facebook'ed me.  I felt so LOVED!

The sun shone and birds sang.  It was just a FABULOUS DAY, and I felt like I was on top of the world!

OK, so this isn't the top of the world, but it is 3000 feet above Quito, which is already 10,000 feet above sea level, so it is pretty darned high!

So I decided to do a giveaway, but I don't quite have the whole prize together yet.  Stay tuned - there will be a giveaway later this week.  Until then, may your days be as wonderful as mine have been lately!

Back at it!

It was a good trip abroad, but it is even better to be home again!  Virginia welcomed me back this weekend with lovely weather, and I have taken full advantage of it.  Friday afternoon, when I got back to town, I stopped by to surprise my kids at school and bring them back home with me.  They would have been home in 3 hours anyway, but darn it, I MISSED THEM!  We spent the rest of the day at home, where I spent a good deal of time getting reacquainted with my porch!

Today, it was back to my usual  busy-ness: selling popcorn and peanuts for cub scouts outside Walmart followed by a trip to recycling, the post office, and then a karate class.  We brought one of the kids' friends home with us for the afternoon, while I reacquainted myself with my sewing room.  A friend was having an Autumn Equinox party this evening (which was SO MUCH FUN!  Great people, great food, a pool, a hot tub, a campfire, a tree fort and a raucous game of Capture the Flag - what more could a girl ask for?), and I wanted to whip up a gift to bring.  I decided on potholders, loosely based on this tutorial from Oh, Fransson!  They are huge, 9.5" square, and if I were to make them again, I would make them a little smaller.  I also tried finishing the binding by machine instead of by hand since I didn't have much time.  It turned out much messier than I prefer - I won't be doing that again.  But she liked them, so, live and learn.

Not sure why the bottom one looks warped - they actually turned out square.

See the pocket at the back to slip your hand in?  I like this!

Oh, that trip to the post office earlier?  It was to put this in the mail to Becky, who won my giveaway.

2 fat quarters of newly purchased fabric, two skeins of perle cotton and two Britt Chocolate snack pyramids, one of dark chocolate covered coffee beans and one of dark chocolate covered cashews

Who says the first commenter never wins?  Mr. Random Number Generator chose #1 of the 18 comments.  I can't tell you all how much it means to me to be able to stay connected to all of you when I am traveling.

So, my 41st birthday is the Monday, September 24.  I asked for boxing gloves for my birthday so I could work out with the heavy bag in my basement.  My husband gave them to me early (today) and we did a quick, but killer, workout tonight after putting the kids to bed.  See me all shiny with sweat!

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."