When Life Gives us Lemons....

Each morning....

...and throughout the afternoons....

I'm feeding my body with the:

When Life Give Us Lemons...

...take control of the things we can! Green tea with a twist of lemon has always been an afternoon treat...but I've been remotivated to get back to my daily juicing routine too. It feels good to be feeding my body with nutrients that will build my immune system. Along with being intentional about what I put in my body, I'm also boosting my immune system by reducing the stress of the Coronavirues impact on our daily life by limiting how much we actually watch the Covid19-News...enjoying some creative stitching when we do decide to watch.(Smiles!)

Soooo... do you find yourself being a little bit more intentional during these uncertain time to nourish your mind and body?  If so, do share in the comments how. Oh! And check this out! I recycled my lemon mesh bag as a new thread catcher for the birds:

 Hoping it attracts some new birds this Spring.
With SMILES! Val

A Quilting Calculator

I use a Smartphone and wanted to share a very helpful ap I found to determine fabric yardage. I often  create my own quilts without even a pattern and am often left to geuss how much backing or binding I will need to finish it. Robert Kaufman Fabrics and Quilters Paradise teamed up to create: QuiltingCalc. 

There are a variety of subject areas to choose from as you can see below:

I have only used this to determine my backing, batting and binding but can 

tell you it has taken the guess work on determining how much fabric I need to finish a quilt.

You simple input your width of fabric being used, then unput width and length of your quilt top: 

Finally, press "calculate" and you'll be told how much yardage you will need.

I love it and just wanted to share a helpful ap with anyone of you who might have a Smartphone and might find yourself always guessing at how much backing, batting and binding you will need.

Create a post to join/rejoin us for this year's 

 Piggy Bank Challenge!

Note: This Linky is open until  August 1st. 
Please feel welcome to grab our "button" to help spread the work to all your readers.

You know what they say:  a penny saved is a penny earned.

Click HERE to join us.

Fuse Your Batting Pieces!

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say, I have a pile of batting remnants. 

All different sizes. All taking up space. All unused.

Last week I was piecing the backing for a crib size quilt when I realized I didn't have the white batting I needed, yet I had numerous remnants of such. I then remembered some Heat Press Batting Together I had won during one of our many blog events, yet had absentmindedly tucked away.  

So I dug it out and set out to use it to "piece" five remnants of white batting together.  It was exceptionally easy as I just had to lay the batting edges together. Lay the tape of Heat Press Tape over the two edges and iron. This literally took me half the time it would if I sewed the batting together.

I used the 1.5 inch Heat Press Batting Together for this project.

I ended up creating a whole piece of batting that was flat and sturdy when I moved it.

Even better....there were no "bumpy" seams to quilt over. I loved that!

It was also invisible once I was finished quilting.

I so appreciate the wonderful sponsors of all our of blog events and appreciate having the opportunity to try out a new products like this one.  Here's a quick link: HEAT PRESS BATTING TOGETHER. I just wanted to share my success with it and give a shout out of gratitude to all our blog event sponsors. What do ya think? I mean just think: no more sewing batting remnants together! 

Tuesday Archives #198: Quilt Care

Hello! Hello! and Happy Tuesday Archives! 

The linky party that let's you rejuvinate OLD blogging posts.

If you are new to our linky, click over the here to read the details about this fun, weekly linky party. (You can also check out all our past Tuesday Archives themes by clicking right here.)

This week's theme is: QUILT CARE

Happy Tuesday everyone! 

Happy Tuesday everyone. Soooo, I don't pre-wash my fabric. I have never had a problem with uneven fabric shrinkage or colors running. I do however, always use Shout Color Catchers with my first washes. The more the contrast in colors, like this red and black with white quilt pictured above, the more sheets I use. I'll use anywhere from 2-4 sheets depending on the quilt size and quilt colors.

SWAP IS CLOSED.

Click HERE to read all the details and perhaps think about joining us.

Back to Basics Checklist

Twelve hour parent conference days are now behind me and 

I settled into my studio today as I began to enjoy a four day weekend...at home!

I love being home and am looking forward to a little "at-home" sewing retreat of my own. 

But! Before I do, I thought it would be a good time to get back to the basics and 

give my sewing machines and tools some much needed TLC!

Love this idea. Click HERE to check it out.

I created a checklist to share....

1. LINT CHECK: Pull out those screw drviers, remove the foot plate and bobbin and clean out the lint. Perhaps add a a few drops of oil.

2. CHANGE THE NEEDLE: I am much better about changing the needle on my long-arm than I am on my sewing machine. Admittedly, I wait till a needle breaks to even think about changing it. With tha said, I can't even pluck blood from my finger with my current needle! Egads right! Seriously, my stitches are better, tension wonderful and my machine hums now.

3. CHANGE YOUR ROTARY BLADE: Why do we allow ourselves to struggle with cutting? I read, as soon as the blade starts to skip and not cut through the same amount of fabric consistently, change it. Don't wait. Oh and while you are at it, also wipe the lint from the rotary cutter. 

4. CHECK YOUR SEAM RIPPER: If you use a ripper for your stitches check to see if the pointed end feels dull. If is is, buy a new one. I'm learning they don't last forever, and the dull end actually makes it harder to rip those stitches out as I find myself catching fabric more.

I also got my long-arm back from getting it's first over-haul of maintenance and parts replaced since I bought it six years old. OH you should hear it hum. I'm humbly reminded that our machines are an investment that need the same maintenance and TLC that our cars and other appliances with motors get. Soooooo now I'm curious to know if you are better at routine machine/tool maintenance than me? And if so, please do share how you remind yourself to do so as for me, time seems to pass so fast.

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Classroom Update...

It's been another fun filled week at school. We had our annual outdoor day of school!

The kids LOVED creating their own tye-dye shirts for our trip into the city.

Some are continuing to stitch their little fish beanbags.

 And as with an hobby......some catch on fast....

...while others are hoping their beans don't fall out!
A quick tip: Use a stapler instead of pins when working with kids.

Admittedly, my favorite is this little elephant that one of my girls called:

"An Elephant of Many Colors...ya know like Dolly Parton's coat of many colors."

Probably the cutest crayon holder I've ever seen that's for sure!

Their little stitches are just precious don't ya think?

  We've started to wrap up our stitching projects and I'm busily preparing materials for the kids to create our annual classroom quilt next week using my "Make a quilt with kids" Tutorial. 

Stay tuned....and as always, thanks so very much for stopping by.

Lighting for Hand Stitching

Kathy who hosts our Slow Stitching Sunday Linky is right, those of us who moved our clocks back an hour last night are going to be stitching in the dark much earlier at the end of days.

(Personally, I slept in till 8:00 and woke up at 7:00 this morning and that felt wonderful!!)

Kathy asked us to share our lighting tips. I have two.

First, Jackson is showing you my evening stitching spot. 

I use a floor lamp with a must have Ott Light Bulb.

But next, for evenings when we are watching a good movie and for when I travel I use this:

(Check out that lighting!)

My Beam N Read!

It's little strap goes right around your neck. It's ran by four AA batteries and has two light settings.

  (I think it even came with a magnifying glass??)

It's amazing!! A fellow stitcher had one and once seeing it, I immediately ordered myself one!

I've had mine for a few years now and it is my "go to" lighting for hand stitching.

Whether I'm traveling, sitting at the kitchen table, by the fire or even outside, it's perfect lighting.

(Okay, I just sounded like a info commercial, but seriously, if I were Oprah, I'd send everyone one!)

Let me know if you decide to check out the little light. I'd like to know what ya think of it. 

For now, I'm off to my stitching spot to watch a morning movie and to enjoy some wool stitching.

Happy Sunday Stitching everyone. 

Coming up this week at T.A.: Lone Star quilts and projects.

Extra Thread is for the Birds Part 2

What do you do with your left-over pieces of thread? Today I was reminded of a post I wrote over three years ago about how I leave my scraps of thread and fabric out for the birds. Note: I have since learned to run my rotary cutter through my mounds of thread and thin strips of scraps, making it much easier for the little birdies to grab and carry the pieces away. I also have added leftover batting to the mix, again pulling it apart to make easy access for my fellow birdies of residence. I probably refill this feeder three times through the Spring and Summer months.

So imagine my surprise as I was just busily mowing the yard, when right in front 

of me on the ground, I found this wee little nest, small enough to fit in the pawn of my hand:

Upon closer inspection I began to find pieces of thread, batting and...

...as I turned it over, strips of Mary Engelbreit fabric weaved among the many twigs, pine needles and pieces of straw. (Atleast  I now know for sure why the feeder continuously needs refilling.)

I felt so bad for the little bird I imagined was in frantic search for it's colorful, cozy nest. So I carefully placed it back into the tree above,  in hopes it's momma will return...

Studio Reorganized & One Tip

While I should be working on my raw edged flowers and nine patches, I mean after all, they are my June OMG....but noooo instead: SQUIRREL!!! I got back from my retreat all inspired to rearrange my entire studio! (I have no idea why!) I created a larger cutting/quilting area:

Jackson was a great help! NOT! LOL!!Okay, see that big sectional in the background....

well I sold half of it (More...cash for fabric!! LOL!!) and...

... moved my little table and chairs over there (so cozy) :

My mom would call and after the third time of dropping the phone while she was talking, she asked: "What are you doing?" Reply: "Rearranging my fabric!" She laughed reminding me that I do that every summer...in reflection, I guess she's right. But I can't tell ya how rejuvenating it is. So I spent another day rearranging ALL my fabric. Truth be told, I was hoping to go through all my fabric in hopes of reopening my Etsy shop and getting rich selling my fabric stash...LOL!! NOT!...I found myself ooohhh and auughhhh way too much and only ended wishing I had more time to create.

I emptied my entire glass cabinets and here's how I always seem to end up organizing:

I organize my STASH in a RAINBOW spectrum.

My one tip: whether it be my thread or fabric organize them in a rainbow order. I start with green. 

Why haven't I finished this Metro-Rings quilt?? Until then, I 'll enjoy it here.

Here is my stash revamped: 

And now that I'm all reorganized...I got back to creating. I ending up backing my crazy jelly roll race classroom quilt with these pearl rings I found in my stash. I quilted it with a bubble pantograph.

Today I plan to sew a green binding on it and put it in my back-to-school pile.

Last thing I want to do is organize my WIP hand projects as inspired by Karen who blogs at Moose Bay Muses especially as our July will be a busy month filled with travels and family. She made these adorable vinyl bags and though I love their colored zippers, I'm pretty sure mine will be organized into gallon-size ziploc bags, put into a cute basket, of course. Thanks for the inspiration Karen.

So that's what I've been up to this week...no Etsy shop reopened...but never the less, reinspired am I.

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