August catch up

 

Middle of August already and I don't even feel like I have had a summer.  Mostly I feel like I have been unhealthy the entire time.  Covid in Mid June with a cough that never did go away, sewed through my finger recently which healed within a week, and now I have head congestion and my cough is at the level where I can't sleep and my chest is killing me.  Calling to see if I can get in with a doctor today- that is after calling all last week and not even getting the phone answered.  I am VERY upset with medical care these days.  

I absolutely have to be well in time for my vacation at the beginning of September!!!!

But, I did get a quilt bound that had been waiting for a great while.  It is on the wall in my dining area and I really love the colors!

And, this is the second of two large beach bags I have sewn in anticipation of our trip.  It came out okay.  I am not great with boxed corners.  Still need some practice.  I have a hard time making the seams line up with the side seams.  Better if there is no thickness.  

Here are two sides of a smaller beach bag I stitched- it is actually purse size.  It is an in-the-hoop project from Sweet Pea Machine Embroidery.  This is where I had more problem with the boxed corners not lining up with the side seams because of the bulk.  

Cosmo made sure to be up close the entire time in case I needed help.  This is the design that I was doing when I sewed through my finger- the flip flop beach bag.  It bled a little, stopped quickly and healed within 1 week so I have no complaints other than the medical cost.  

Cosmo turned one!  I stitched him up a birthday neck cloth which he chewed the entire time it was on, and my daughter made him a pupcake.  

I love this pup like crazy but he has been a challenge.  His Sheepadoodle behavior is crazy and we have had to resort to some very serious training to be able to live with him.  Not a breed I would suggest in the future.  He still frustrates my husband to no end.  And now that I am home instead of working, he is even more attached to me.  That means having him lay at my feet constantly- tripping hazard for sure, and walking with his body touching my leg, pretty much everywhere we go.  And, he behaves as if he weighs a dainty 5 pounds instead of close to 70.  

I have been doing a great deal of machine embroidery on my new to me Bernina 700.  This is the back of my swimsuit cover up that was purchased for last year's vacation and will be used again in September.  I also added some designs to the front.  

It stitched out beautifully on the thin terry cloth with some thin cut away stabilizer underneath and Solvy wash away on top. 

 And this is my first time ever making Free Standing Lace.  I am very happy with it and will be making many FSL ornaments for a church craft fair in October.  In fact, I should have the machines both going right now...

Underneath is a quilt (topper for my TV cabinet) I have been working on which has now been free motion quilted and just needs a binding.  Maybe it will be an August finish too!

Pressure is on...

So, here is one of the latest finishes.  Yes, it is actually complete.  I do finish one once in a while.  

This quilt is made from shirts worn by my husband, my son, and myself.  Then there is one other fabric added to represent my daughter since I didn't have any of her shirts, then the blue.  I used 2 layers of warm & white batting- it quilts up so much nicer that way- so it is one heavy & large lap quilt.  I usually use washable wool batting now days but I had some warm & white left over and wanted to use it up.  

Here is the back and an up close.  That pink London fabric is the one i added for my daughter.  The rest are clothes actually worn by the rest of us.  That pink & yellow plaid is from a pair of shorts.  

The quilting pattern is called "A Little bit of fluff".  This is the second quilt- ever- that I have had a problem of the back folding over on itself during quilting.  I had to remove stitching from the second half of two rows to fix it.  That was frustrating...otherwise, I love my long arm machine!

This is my other recent finish.  Made in two days.  Those hand painted panda blocks have been in my stash for years.  I was finally motivated to get something made with them.  Its a little less than 30 inches square.  Now I have to figure out where to hang it.  

These blocks called to me yesterday so I got this simple top put together and I am really loving it.  I already have the backing loaded on the long arm.  I think I want this one hanging in my bedroom where I have new solid navy bedding and a light blue-grey wall.  

I had originally planned on working on my bee quilt yesterday.  That didn't happen.  Now that I have found out that we are planning on starting a hybrid model of school this year , in addition to an online option, and I will be starting back in less than 2 weeks, the pressure is on to get some more projects finished!  

I saw this Barbie at the book store the other day.  I LOVE her!  I have been trying to make myself take some time for meditation and yoga through all this quarantine so this tickled my funny bone.  Even Barbie is more Zen than I am...

Namaste!

Making Some Progress

So, I have mostly been crocheting this week but I did get to some quilting yesterday.  I finished "Flower Child" which just needed a few more rows of quilting.  I knew I wouldn't have time to do this quilt all in one standing (not sitting because I have a long arm) so I went for a hand guided pantograph rather than computerized.  This is the first time I have used Quilter's Dream Wool batting.  I loved it and already ordered more!  I hope it washes nicely...

I am rather proud of myself with this quilt, simply because I purchased the women's head fabric to help me use up my stash and that is exactly what I did.  All the other fabric in this quilt, including the backing was already in my stash at the time.  Challenge left- find a binding in my stash...

Here you can see the overall with the border...

A little better view of my rusty hand guided quilting skills. 



I also managed to get the borders on my pink Hawaiian quilt.  It is about a 60 inch square.  I have a lovely flamingo flannel that matches well that I could use on the back but I hadn't planned on using flannel on this one so I will have to think about it. The pink and bluish neutral were in my stash.  I purchased the Hawaiian recently.  Stash busting is hard...

In addition to working on the "Cat Nip" blocks I showed last week, I started this one.  It will have 5 blocks each of 4 different colors around that same cat fabric.  I am hoping it will look quite modernish.  I am thinking I got the cat focus too centered in these blocks so may change the measurements on the rest of the blocks to make them more off center.  the cats should really look like they are randomly placed through out the quilt.  We shall see...I am also wondering if I will include the mint green with the other more olive and pea.  I do like the blue though. 

The cats have been in my stash for a long time but I had to go get the solids to go with them.  Again....Stash busting is a challenge for me. 

Today the long arm is to be serviced, then need to get my main Bernina in to the shop if I have time.  My backup machine and the one my daughter is using also need some TLC.  How do they all need service at the same time?  

I'm still waiting on two yarn packs to arrive from The UK.  It has already been the suggested 2 weeks so I am not sure how much longer I will have to wait to begin the Attic 24 CAL.  I am trying to fill my time with extra squares from the Moogly CAL and working on two ongoing blankets- a Neat Ripple and a Cosy Stripe.  the Cosy stripe is King size so will take FOREVER! 

Second day of a new year!

I hope you all had a lovely day yesterday.  I did minimal cleaning so that I could get a big quilt loaded on to the quilt machine, minimal cooking, some crochet, spent time with family!  It was lovely and relaxing and rejuvenating!

Some of you may know what this is, though I have my doubts.  My son, 19 years old, has convinced my husband and I to start playing World of Warcraft Classic.  He created himself a new character so that he could help us along our journey and my daughter joined in as well.  He spends most of his game time saving our butts!  So, we now spend some time, almost daily, playing together as a family.  It is family time where we talk about the game and have a good time.
It has been fun but I know it will happen less frequently once I get back into the swing of work next week.  However, it gives us a great link to our kids and what is going on in their very busy lives.  Both are in college and we do not get to see them enough so this gives us a little connection. 
These are my and my husbands characters. 

Our doggies are always so happy when the kids are home.  Here, Jack is enjoying the smell and feel of my son's backpack while we sit around the table as a family. 

This is my preparation for the Attic 24 Crochet Along that starts tomorrow!  I can't wait!  It is the first time I will actually be joining in the fun.  I am sure I will fall behind quickly but am going to try hard to keep up.  I still need to grab a couple more pinks, hopefully will find them today. 
I guess this means my current project of a Neat Ripple blanket and the languishing Cosy Stripe blanket will be left unattended until after the Dahlia blanket CAL is complete. 

I also want to keep up with some quilting, daily exercise, and I am joining an A Capella group that rehearses every Thursday, so I am going to be a busy girl!  And then there is that thing called work that is going to take up the majority of my time...

Reading goals may suffer this year.

 Here is one of my latest creations- a very simple little quilt made from a digital print fabric I have been eyeing for months.  I finally decided I would just get it and do a simple something. 

It is wall-hanging size, and has now been quilted and binding sewn on.  Just need to find the time to do the hand stitching on the binding. 

I had a major oops when adding the hanging sleeve.  Don't know where my mind was...I sewed the thing on inside out...

But I fixed it and all is well.  Hope to get it on the wall some time this month. 

So, you know how some people choose a word to focus on for the year?  I am choosing an animal. 
I have chosen a wolf- mostly because I need to focus on running and what better running partner could one have? 
Also, you may have seen this somewhere, I have found it online- in many places...

Advice from a Wolf

• Trust your instincts
• Be at home in nature
• Keep your den clean
• Stand fur what you believe
• Stay on track
• Howl with your friends 
• Pack life with good memories!

In addition to my running, my husband and I are planning on doing a lot of hiking to get ourselves out in nature and spend time together focusing on health.  I always need to clean more...but mostly want to focus on spending quality time with quality people and having a great year!

I need to head out to the grocery store today, and start focusing on laundry and meal prep to get ready for next week.  I am due back at work on Monday, bright and early.  

While I enjoy my job as a High School Librarian, I am sure everyone can understand the draw of being at home, warm and cozy, coffee, tea, and poodle cuddles whenever I want, quilting, crochet, books, naps under a soft quilt, time with my college kids who are also on vacation...

Who would ever want to leave that?

Hope you all have had a wonderful Holiday and are looking forward to 2020!  We can do this!

PHD in 2020

 I am joining in the PHD Challenge for 2020.  https://quiltinggail.com/2019/12/15/do-you-have-too-many-ufos/

I have way more than 12 PHDs but if I get 12 finishes for 2020 I will be thrilled!
Here are some of the ones waiting to be finished...

These first five quilts are hanging inthe closet just waiting for backings to be pieced and quilted.  I even have one (not pictured) that is ready to go on the quilting machine. 

Here are some of the ones that are newly started (within the last few months)...

And, a couple that are old quilts waiting for some new attention.  

My list just goes on and on.  I have at least 3 crochet projects that need to see completion as well.  Lofty goals but I am going to see what can be accomplished this year.   I would love to add some small quilts throughout the year that could be used as Birthday gifts and Christmas gifts as well.  My daughter has two quilts in mind as well that we have the fabric for.  I need to get her sewing machine to her- just inherited from my mother and needs a trip to the sewing mechanic before she starts...

All this will barely put a dent in the stash or the number of UFOs.  I have got to get this under control!

Long Weekend progress

Still no finished projects to show but my fifteen minutes to stitch is adding up.

I have one quilt loaded onto the machine in hopes of being quilted tomorrow, 3 more waiting in line, one upstairs that just needs a backing put together and many more that are just blocks or rows to be sewn together.

This turquoise scrap quilt, started years ago, will maybe see a finish sometime soon.  Half of the blocks are ready, another half are ready to sew into the half square triangles.

I have spent the last few hours working on a quilt with my Gone with the Wind fabric from years ago.

Here are some of the blocks in their beginning stages.  I am embroidering quotes from the movie to use as well.  I am kinda making it up as I go along since the blocks are not all the same size.  It may end up being a basic row-by-row quilt.  It is making me want to watch the movie again.  It has always been one of my favorites but it has been many years since I watched it.

On another front, my daughter just had her Junior Year Recital on Friday night.  She is studying Opera Voice Performance.  She did an amazing job!  So proud of all her hard work!  Love to hear her sing!

Already disappointed with how fast the three day weekend is going.  Still have way too much to do to pack it into one day tomorrow.  The fairies must be busy too because they have not cleaned my house yet...

May the road rise up to meet you...

So, even though I have been flitting from one project to the next, I did actually have a finish this past week.  It is a wall hanging made from a tea towel that I have had tucked away for a couple of years now.  This is my favorite Irish Blessing. 

Here is a full view.  I need to get a better hanger for it but it currently hangs on the wall just before we head up the stairway.  

 I had quite a jaunt to the local quilt shop yesterday and did a bit of shopping- okay, a spree, it was a shopping spree...
I acquired the kit for this Kaffe Quilt and the new book came with it.."Quilts in Ireland"   I am looking forward to making some of the other projects but probably with stash fabrics. 
Yesterday I got all the flowers fussy cut and started sewing corners on for the snowball blocks.  

This quilt kit also jumped into my shopping bag.  It is called "Positively Bohemian".  I can't wait to start cutting it out.  

I also started (earlier this week) a scrap quilt using this pattern...

from this book...

but I will be making mine from shirts worn by my husband, my son, and myself and one piece of fabric that I threw in for fun.  

It will look quite a bit different from the original but I am loving it.  The blue solid is a Kona and I was a bit disappointed to find that the piece I bought recently to add to what I have is not quite the same color.  You can only tell when you are looking at it in the sun and with the pieces right next to each other so I think I am just going to use it any way.  It is a scrap quilt after all...

So, while I focused on all this, I am still trying to get around to getting borders put on and some other projects going.  

Did I mention that I started a log cabin that I have had cut out for a long time?  Yeah, that too.  

Then this thing called "work" came up today and got in my way.  No sewing has yet taken place today but I may go slip some in before bed.  I have a few projects to do...

Happy Stitching!