January UFO Weekend

This weekend was the UFO weekend for one of the online groups that I'm a part of.  Depending on the weekend we've got 3 or 4 days to put in at least 8 hrs on a UFO and hopefully make progress on it.  The UFO can be any kind of UFO as long as it has some sort of stitching in it.

This month I chose to work on putting together some of the many RWB blocks that I've collected over the last few years.   Some of them were from an online swap I've been in this past year and others were sample blocks that I made up as I worked on my pattern designs.   The final blocks that went into it were some flag blocks that I made to use up some extra pp'd pattern sections from a long-ago finished quilt.

The top finishes out at 60" by 80" or so and will be going to American Heroes this year.  For me this is complete because they will have someone else quilt it.

Next up was putting a wee bit of trim onto a couple of plain t-shirts.   The shirts had sat around for about 6 months waiting for me to get to them.  All that for about 15 minutes of hunting thru the trim stash for something that would work and 5 minutes worth of work to sew it on.






The last thing I've completed this weekend is a tote bag from Home Dec fabric I've had in my stash for several yrs.   there is a pocket inside made from the same checked fabric that the handles are made from.  This will go in my stash of items for gifts or to be sold at some point.

I did complete the final swap block for this month, but will show that in a different post.

Gratitudes:

1. The sun is shining and it is supposed to be lovely week weather wise.

2. Only 4 wks till Quilt Con 2017!

Chasing squirrels...........

With a deadline to getting my challenge quilt done you'd think that I would be focused on working on it and not allowing anything else to distract me.    Ummmmm, nope.....I've been like the dog who is chewing on a favorite toy and then gets distracted by squirrels and races off after them.    I am totally easy to distract.

In my case, it was fabrics that didn't fit into boxes or the big totes as I was working to go through my non-quilting fabric stash.  And if I'm honest, the sorting was also a "squirrel"....sigh.   First two "squirrels" I worked on (and completed!!!) were three tote bags - two of the green tie-dye print and the zebra print one.   These will go into my gift totes for future homes.   Although I've thought about making enough up to be in a craft fair at the end of the year.  

Green print fabric is a heavier weight cotton.














Zebra print with pink done with 54" wide upholstery fabric.

And yes, I did get work done on my challenge quilt which is good because I'm going to deliver it in person to the gal who coordinates delivery to the show personnel.  Canoe is pinned approximately where it is going to go.   I need to find a heavy weight needle in order to hand stitch it on.  Will do that after I get all the water on.   I'll be starting at the bottom with the "calm" water and working upwards as I do that.   The plan for tonight includes making good progress on that.

Gratitudes:

1. Good weather

2. Safety in driving home even with horrible traffic this evening

Excitement........

Lots of stuff going on around here - a lot of my time has been spent on going through stuff around the apartment and condensing, sorting out, cleaning, etc.   Can't believe how many bags of stuff I've hauled out to the trash already and I know there is more to come over the next 4 weeks.

The biggest news is that I have received the formal job offer for the job that I interviewed for back in June when I was in Dallas Tx.   I will start working at the company on 8/16, and will leave Wyoming on the 10th.   Should be unloading on the 13th into some sort of a house if all goes well.   Thankfully I'm workign with a realtor this move to find a rental, and have friends that have said that they would be willing to check out any housing possibilities for me since I can't make a trip down there to see them myself before I get there on the 12th.

In between all of the cleaning (and soon to be packing!) I've been sewing because that is how I handle stress best!   Some of the things I've finished up this week - include more scrub tops including 2 featuring dinosaurs and one in a patriotic print.

Next up were three kitchen towels embellished with pieced strips.  Two blue ones (someone gave me the pieced strip, but can't remember who).   And then a green check one embellished with a strip that I got in a scrap bag while in Dallas this summer.  All of these will end up as gifts at some point.













Next up was a zippered bag that I'm going to use to hold my cross-stitch to help carry it while traveling.  The pencil pouch I'd been using was too small to hold some of the kits I've got to make up, hence the need for a bigger one.    the fabric on the outside is a home dec (with the feathers) and a black quilting cotton.  Inside is a a black pre-quilted fabric from a scrap that I had laying around.  Added a couple of extra pockets to it so I'd have somewhere to put my needles and scissors.


Gratitudes:

1.   I received the formal job offer today and accepted it.   Now to get everything going needed for the move.

2. For the friends and family that God has blessed me with.

Surgery and sewing.............

I've never been one that can just sit around and twiddle my thumbs when waiting for something else to happen.   So Thursday morning while waiting for time to leave for my scheduled surgery, i finished off two tote bags from the same fabric.   One will be a BD present for one of my best friends.   The second one will be posted for sale.

The fabric I used is a drapery fabric that I found on clearance.   was so nice to sew with.   Am glad I got it all because I still have some more to make more bags with.  I'm hoping that the one sells quickly.  =)

Once I got home from the surgery I ended up sleeping the rest of the day/night....well till about 4 am or so at any rate.   Started going thru a tote of stuff because I was wide awake at that point.....found these strip sets that had been leftover from other projects done years ago and started these quilted postcards with them.  Added the silk flowers to the postcards, and then did the finish stitching this afternoon.

Nice to have another UFO done and out of the totes.

Gratitudes -
1. Sinus surgery is over and so far everything is going well.

2. Good friends who are there to help and encourage when needed.

Happy Orphan Blocks

Most every quilter has them.....those pesky orphan blocks that they just don't know what to do with.   Odd shapes, sizes, patterns that didn't quite work out right, colors that don't work out the way we planned, or ones that we 'inherited' from someone else.   I suspect for most of us they just sit in totes or boxes waiting patiently for us to be struck with inspiration on how to make the most of these gems in the rough.

I have my share of orphan blocks, I'll take them out every so often to look at and play with and think about what to do with them.    Most of them have been stubbornly silent tho so they remain in my tote of orphan blocks.   Occasionally though some of them will start whispering to me about what they'd like to be when they grow up.  

This week two of my little orphans decided it was time to tell me their dreams of greatness.   The first block to speak to me was one that passed onto my by an online friend.   It was a lovely fan block, but in colors that I rarely ever use.    I'd been working on various tote bags over the weekend and had pulled out a very soft looking plaid in blueish-grey and tan.   The block looked great up against the plaid.   So I ended up quilting it after backing it w/muslin.  Then attached it as the outer pocket on the tote bag.   Haven't decided what i'm going to do with this, might sell it, might give it as a gift.

Another happy little ex-orphan as of tonite is this little sailboat block that now has a home on a baby bib.   This will be going with a stack of other bibs as a baby shower gift for a gal at the store.

So two orphans are orphaned no longer, and I have fewer 'voices' clamoring at me to do something with them.   Wonder what will speak to me next demanding their turn at the sewing machine?

Gratitudes:
1. Being able to sleep in bed for a few hours even tho I'm still croupy with bronchitis
2. Meds that are helping to bring everything back under control

Finished Quilts....

In the past couple of weeks I've finished off another UFO (the 4th for this year!) and have also finished two baby quilts that I will be listing for sale this week. Also have a couple of tote sets that I've finished up and will also be listing for sale this week as well. Thinking of listing all items on both Ebay and Etsy, along with links to them on my website and blog. Really need to be able to start making some extra money by selling some of the things that I'm making.

The tablerunner is the 'twin' of the tabletopper that I finished in February. I'm thinking about selling this as well as the baby quilts.

Both of the baby quilts started with 3 FQ's of a cute Boyd's Bear flannel print. I cut 6" squares of the flannel and used them for the centers of the blocks. Added coordinating borders around the flannel and ended up with cute quilts. Still have enough of the flannel to make one more baby quilt, and the plan for that is in my head. =)

I have a lot of fun making tote bags. And working at Joann Fabrics part-time has given me access to the remnants as they are made. Have gotten a lot of fun fabrics to use for totes. The two pictured below are made from a couple of prequilted fabrics that I picked up as remnants. I had enough fabric to not only make the tote bags but also small little zippered bags to match.

Gratitudes:

1. Love being able to get remnants at great prices which makes sewing totes and quilts more affordable for me.

2. For the ability to sew and create. =)