Halloween

Another month gone.... and I forgot to publish this post this morning! Hmmm, wonder what else I have forgotten to do today? 

We had a potluck at church yesterday. Any month that has five Sundays, we do a potluck on the 5th Sunday. I think it's a cool idea. Of course, I never know what to take to stuff like that. I played it safe and made potato salad.

I try to make stuff Bill and I don't mind eating for a few days in case there is bunches left over. It was also Reformation Sunday and we were reminded to wear red. That always confuses me as I don't seem to have anything red to wear other than tee shirts, even though it's my favorite color. I had ordered a shirt from one of the Facebook ads (note to self: don't do that again). What I got was straight from China and crazy looking.

It's a super bright orangey red. I was going to send it back, but of course, there wasn't a return label or any paperwork of any kind, so......I put it on with some black slacks and called it good. I'm sure everyone could see me coming! 

Happy Halloween peeps!

Some Me Time

I spent most of yesterday on customer stuff. I had Chris’s quilt on the frame.

It’s the same kit I bought from the LQS. I finished the piecing but haven’t had time to quilt it. 

For whatever reason, mine had a different color of border. It will probably go on my 2023 UFO list. Oh well, customer stuff pays the bills; my stuff doesn’t. 

I stopped a little early so I could do some of own sewing. I got to play with my new machine.

So far, no issues with thickness. No hesitation and no skipped stitches. I’m happy with it. I also worked a little on the Kaffe design roll. I keep a stack by the machine so I can do a few whenever there is an opportunity.

I got quite a few done and feel like maybe I am making some progress.

I have maybe 20 or 30 more pairs left to sew, and then I can start on the sashing. All in good time I guess.

Making Progress

Yesterday felt like one of those days when you just spin your wheels and don't get too much done, but when I looked at the camera roll on my phone, I think I did more than I thought. I got a quilt on the frame and finished.

I don't know if you an see the quilt pattern or not, but it is called Animal Crackers and has lions, elephants, and giraffes in it. I also got the binding cut for this one. I hope to get it put on tomorrow if things go well. 

I got the binding sewn down on two other quilts. I had already sewn the binding to the back and pressed it to the front, so only had to topstitch it down.

I really like the Tula Pink prints in the second one. I'll be sad to see that one go home. It's a simple design, but the colors are so pretty. 

When I left my shop on Thursday, I stopped at the Midcoast Family Thrift Store (it's part of the Midcoast Family Services that I make quilts for), and found two Pyrex baking dishes.....$3.00 for both of them.

I think some of mine are now living at my daughter's house, or maybe my mom's house, so I was excited to find these. I also found this tea kettle which I took to my shop.

I'm not sure if it will go on the stove or on a shelf, but it was too cute to pass up. I don't plan to use it; I just like the way it looks.

So today is an early football game. I wish it wasn't so early, but it's their last game of the season, so I am going to make an effort to be there. A customer is coming later today to talk about some memory quilts she wants made. Not sure how long that will take, but I want to spend enough time with her to get a good feel for what she wants. I truly like doing the memory quilts, but it always feels like a big responsibility.

Update on Quilt Guild

We had our quilt guild meeting yesterday, and the ladies from Joseph's Warriors were there to pick up quilts and pillowcases. Most of the charity sewing I have done this year has been for Joseph's Warriors and Midcoast Family Services. Of course, I have done a few for Quilts of Valor, but those are more sporadic. I found two more quilts at my shop that I had forgotten to take to the guild, and got busy Wednesday and made pillowcases to go with them. 

I had enough leftover fabric from the quilts to make the cuff and the flange for each case, and I have a bolt of the solid yellow I used for the main part. I realize the solid yellow is obnoxiously bright with the second one, but it is what I had here. Here is a link to Joseph's Warriors if you want to read more about their organization.

One of the ladies is coming back in January to do a workshop on adding borders to a quilt. She brought a sample along, and I am pretty anxious to do the workshop.

I really like medallion-style quilts, so I will definitely enjoy this one. I have already signed up and paid the instructor's fee. It was $25.00 so that is a pretty good deal. Of course, we will furnish our own fabric, but somehow I don't think that will be a problem.

Thankful Thursday

I got my new to me sewing machine unboxed and set up. I’m liking it so far…..sewing through the clothesline rope I use for the rope bowls and bags doesn’t seem to phase it at all.

The real test will be when I start zigzagging everything into a circle. I like the black—my other Janomes are white, but I didn’t really consider the fingerprint problem.

I’ll just need to be a little more diligent about keeping it clean. I’m not guaranteeing that will happen. 

I did get to make a trip to Ganado a few days ago. She has the new William Reue fabric line. I think it is called Log Tavern Road.

It’s super pretty. It took most of my resistance to not buy any. I still have the fat quarter pack I bought from the Madison One line. Until I use it, I don’t want to buy more. They had a sample quilt made up in the new line.

Simple, but very effective at showcasing the fabrics. 

Today is quilt guild. The lady from Joseph Warriors is coming to collect our charity quilts. More about that later.

Flight Plan Quilt Pattern

This is done in Tonga batiks.

I like all four color ways, but the top left and bottom left are especially pretty. The free pattern is here. The pattern has a couple of more color ways that aren’t shown in the thumbnails. 

The fabric requirements include a Tonga treats six pack….I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one. It’s six inch strips. I’m sure fat quarters would work also, but it would take 20 of them.

To-Do List Tuesday 10-24-22

Oh, it’s been a good week. Not too intense, but I have been making good progress on last week’s goals.

Last Week’s Lineup:

1) Spend 15-30 minutes each day cutting up the small pieces into useable squares and strips. Yes! I’m working my way through all the scraps. See yesterday’s post for an update.

2) Work on the Kaffe Fassett design role. I started last week, but haven't gotten farther than adding a black strip to each strip. I’m having fun with this design roll. The fact that I love the colors helps keep me motivated. 

3) Bind the customer quits I quilted last week. Done. See post here.

This week will be more of the same. Hey, why mess with something that is working? I may think of some more things I want to get done, but I have quilt guild Thursday, and I need to be at church today to help package up the quilts for Lutheran World Relief, so I am going to keep it low key with the goals. 

Today I am linking to TexasQuiltGal. 

Scrap Management

I had made a goal of dealing with the accumulation of scraps. I have been cramming them into a box to keep the mess contained, but I knew something needed to happen soon. Of course, digging all the scraps out of the box and out of the corners of the cutting table makes an even bigger mess, so that is always the starting point.

Once everything is out and in plain view, there is no turning back. I try to cut the largest pieces possible from each scrap. For instance, this one is around 3-1/2”

So I cut 2-1/2” squares and put the other piece in the string/crumb bin. I know I could have cut 3-1/2” squares, but I have done that before, and I don’t think I have ever used them or the 4” squares. I am able to use 5” squares, and I cut 15-20 of those.

I can also use the 10” squares, but most of my scraps are turning out to be smaller than that. This is where I am so far:

On the left is 2” strips and squares, 2-1/2” strips and squares, and on the right is 1-1/2” strips and squares. I haven’t been very good about using the 1-1/2” squares either, but there are a couple of patterns I want to make that use them, so I went ahead and cut some. 

I will be continuing this effort until I plow through all the accumulation of scraps. If you can recommend patterns that use 3-1/2” or 4” squares, please let me know what they are!

Today I have an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon for my trigger finger. This will be the third time I have seen him. I hope he will go ahead and do the surgery and get it over with. The shots do help some, but they are not really fixing the problem. The pain is certainly less than it was pre-shots, but my finger still locks when doing things like wringing a dish cloth, and it still gets stiff and sore at night. 

Sewing Machines and Other Stuff

I have several sewing machines. Somehow or another I convinced myself I needed a new machine. The two I normally use (both Janomes) have a hard time with really thick seams. I have some old all-metal singers that will sew through most anything, but they don’t have the modern conveniences I have gotten used to. Things like built-in needle threaders and thread cutters. I googled “heavy duty Janome”, and found out there are three HD models. This is the one I ordered:

I found a refurbished one, and that kind of helped me justify the purchase. It also had the extra-high lift on the presser foot, so I can use it for sewing rope bowls. At least I hope I can. I did call and talk to the dealer and was told I can return it if it doesn't do what I want it do. It came yesterday afternoon, but I haven't had a chance yet to use it. 

Yesterday was also football. My grandson plays center, so this is my normal view:

LOL. I didn't know being a grandparent would be so much fun, but it is! Kudos to the dads who are giving up their free time to work with these boys. I'm not sure how they even keep all the names straight--Carson, Lawson, Dawson, Jackson, Braxton.....they all seem to rhyme. But, the coaches seem to know who is who.

We went to Thai Orchid for dinner and I ordered Pad Woon Sen instead of my normal Pad Thai.

Oh my! So good with the stir fried glass noodles. I got it with pork, and it was delicious. I will definitely order that again.

Weekend Plans

I have some more work to do today, but I did get the binding on four of the customer quilts yesterday. 

Needless to say, I am happy to have that much done......I have two more I would like to do today, but grandson has a football game at 10am which will break my day up a little. I'm hoping Alan will come over and sew with me this afternoon, but it is still tentative at this point.

I was going through my camera roll and found this picture:

These are the same kids whose volleyball and football games I go to now. Where did the time go? I got the homecoming pictures from last weekend. This is the dress that I had to alter. Details here.

I think it fit well, and I was satisfied with the alterations. We'll see what torture they have planned for me next year.

I am continuing to work on cutting up scraps. I'll post a better update on that soon.

Happy Friday!

I kept working on downsizing the cross bookmark, and I think this is as small as I can go:

You can see it is about 2/3 the size of the original. I’m calling it good. I crochet a long chain on the bottom that I will add a tassel to. Of course, like all thread crochet, it will need some heavy starch. So that is one made, and I have about 20 more to do. They go pretty fast though.

I worked on customer quilts all day yesterday and cut binding for the ones I will need to bind. I cut yards and yards of binding!

I need to get it all sewn together and ironed, but this is a start.I did manage to sew a little on my Kaffe project.

I have a stack by the machine so I can sew a little when I get a few minutes to spare. 

Yesterday evening was volleyball. Our girls are undefeated in their district.

They had to really work for this one, but they managed to pull it out and win. It was tense (for me). 

Moving Along

Wednesday was a good day. I wanted to try and crochet some cross bookmarks for my ladies group at church. There are two different sewing groups, and if we do a combined Christmas party, I will need quite a few. I can’t find a pattern I like but I found a picture, and I think I figured it out. 

It’s a little bigger than I wanted, so now I’m working on making a smaller version. I will keep you posted on that. 

I got a customer quilt done while I was crocheting—multitasking. I like these awesome Tula Pink prints.

I have most of these, but I haven’t gotten a chance to do anything with mine yet. Look at these little creatures peaking out of the strips: 

I love them!

Today will be another busy day. I am going to keep working on my crosses until I am happy with the size, and I need to get some bindings done. Have a good day wherever you are reading this!