Hard run, fun sewing

I’m a couple days removed from my run on Saturday so hopefully I can write about it objectively. It was a hard run 😦

Instead of doing the Week 4, Day 3 run I decided I would do intervals and go 5K. I programmed the RunDouble app to prompt me for 3 min run, 90 sec walk intervals (same as W4D3 just covering more distance).

I didn’t get out for the run until after 3pm, the temp was in low 50’s with a slight breeze and it was still sunny. I wore a long sleeve shirt with a short sleeve T over it and my running pants.

After the warm-up walk, I started the first run segment and immediately had issues – seriously, I felt like I was running uphill dragging a car behind me – but I checked, there was no car back there!!! I was so upset and confused – how could I be having issues in the FIRST run segment? I finished that segment and hoped it would get better as I kept going…

It did and it didn’t…I had to take more walk breaks than usual but then I had a few run segments where I seemed to hit my rhythm…it was just a weird run all around :-s  As they say ‘even a bad run is better than no run’!

I’ll be heading out later today for Week 5, Day 1…let’s hope it goes a little better 😀

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I spent a good portion of the weekend working on sewing projects. I made this cute sewing mat that holds all my sewing tools and it doubles as a  machine cover. I probably won’t ever use it as a cover because I use my machine almost every night, but I do like having a place for my tools so they don’t end up on the floor – or worse, lost!

I worked on the Dog Gone Cute quilt top but to my surprise I didn’t take any photos!! I finished the top and pieced the back using the leftover fabrics from the making the faces. I just need to baste, quilt and bind it. I’ll grab some shots tonight :-s

Lastly, I decided I needed a Christmas Wreath to hang on my wall so I browsed Pinterest and found a picture I liked…and proceeded to make it. I pieced the wreath using some evergreen fabric I had but it needed something else. I Googled images of bows and printed one I liked, then I transferred it to Heat-n-Bond and made a red bow with ribbons which I appliqued to the top…I also made some berries to add interest.

This one also just needs to be basted, quilted and bound. Hopefully I can get that done tonight so I can put it up on the wall; I guess I’ll also need to add a hanging sleeve to the back.

That’s about all for now…have a great day!

 

Cozy Afternoon block fixed…sort of…

Last night I finished up the August block in the Cozy Afternoon series but I’ve gotten off somewhere and the block is too large. I realized last night that the stacked border was not meeting up with the points on the white center square so I unpicked the border this morning and reattached it this evening. It matches up much better now but the block is still about 1/4″ too big. I don’t know where else I messed up and I’m not going to worry about it either.

Here’s the finished block:

and a close up:

Here are the 4 blocks so far in the series … there’s one more that will be released in Sept then I can start assembling the top:

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Tomorrow I head back to the store where I purchased my new sewing machine for their “Owner’s class”. I’ve been doing pretty good on my own but I’d like to get a little more in depth with what the machine can do and it’s always better when someone more knowledgeable is there to show you.

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I haven’t run at all this week and I probably won’t run again until Saturday; one day I’ll get back to running 3 days a week…one day 😉

That’s all for now…G’night

Plugging away

Each night I’ve been working on the pumpkin table runner and I’m almost done. Last night I sewed the binding to the front and turned it to the back intending to stitch in the ditch on the front to secure it. But…I don’t like how much binding shows on the front versus the back.

I cut my strips 2 1/4″ and used 1/4″ seam to sew it to the front which leaves about 3/4″ on the back. I really wanted a little more binding to show on front so I’m going to go back over it tonight and add about 1/8″ stitching to the front and then hopefully when I turn it, it will be a little more even on the back & front.

Here’s a shot from last night before I went to bed:

And here’s a close up of the first pumpkin. I used my new Pfaff to do all the stitching and FMQ…wow, the FMQ was so much better on my new machine! Of course I need to get better at moving the fabric at the right pace without jerking…that should come with time 😉 And can I just say how great it is to have speed control when doing applique…#gamechanger!

I’m really happy with the overall project and I learned a lot too, like:

• Get all my fabrics together BEFORE starting the project. There were many stops & starts because I didn’t have enough of something…grrr!
• I used the needle-turn method for the pumpkin, stem & leaf and wow, what a little starch will do to help get that fold! I really like that no raw edges are showing and they won’t unravel over the years with use.
• Stitch the lines on the pumpkins BEFORE appliqueing the edges to prevent puckering at the bottom.
• Write down all stitches used and the sizes so when I stop & start I don’t use the wrong stitch/size (I had to rip & re-do the applique zigzag on the first pumpkin because it was the wrong size).
• I can replicate a finished item without a pattern…albeit with plenty of mistakes and lessons learned!

I’ll post more pics tonight after I finish…ttfn…

Odds and ends

I was trolling YouTube earlier today looking through various tutorials for inspiration when I came across this video for “No waste flying geese“. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this particular method before but it really looks easy and it’s adaptable to whatever size geese you need.

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I posted last week that I made a quilt for my fur baby – Sammi – and I finally was able to snap a picture of her sleeping on it. She really hates getting her picture taken so I tried to snap it while she was sleeping but she has a sixth sense whenever I pull out the camera and she woke up. I got the picture before she could get up!

 

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I started my next project over the weekend – I’m attempting to make this Patchwork Pumpkin table runner I found on Pinterest without the pattern. It’s not that I don’t want to buy the pattern, it’s more that it’s a challenge to see if I can do it just by looking at the finished product…ha, we’ll see how this turns out!

I’ve almost finished prepping the first pumpkin but I don’t have the right brown fabric for the stem, that’s the first hiccup. Second hiccup is that I don’t have enough background fabric! I always do this…grrr…start a project without having all the fabric. One day I’ll learn my lesson

I guess I’ll be making a trip back to the fabric store…oh my…

That’s about all for now…G’night!

 

Cozy Afternoon Block 2 complete

I didn’t spend near as much time in my sewing room today as I would’ve liked but…I was still able to complete the second block in the Cozy Afternoon series – it’s not too late to join! (p.s. it’s FREE)

The second block has quite a few small HST (too small for my liking) and as I feared I got my seams a little off as I pieced the border…ugh! I’ve decided to keep it anyway. The center piece in this block is a tea pot and I did pretty good lining everything up but I had a little trouble figuring out how to applique some of the smaller pieces. I just wasn’t sure how to do it when the piece is barely wider than the zigzag stitch (i.e. the teapot handle and the bumble bee) so I just ‘winged it’ and I guess it doesn’t look too bad.

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I used light blue thread this time for the applique stitching – I was hoping to make the objects stand out a little more. I don’t think I achieved that but I don’t mind the look either.

I’ve got one more block to get caught up. I traced on Heat-n-bond, ironed and cut out the pieces for the next center block but that’s where I’m stopping tonight…my eyes are very tired and I fear I would ‘fudge’ something if I continued.

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My running buddies are otherwise occupied tomorrow morning so looks like I’ll be taking a solo run. I haven’t run all week…it’ll be interesting to see how far I can go. I’m hoping for 4 miles…we’ll see  :-p

Taking a few days off

I’ve got a couple of PTO days planned and I decided I would spoil myself a little.

Today I scheduled a massage at 10 am and it was heavenly! My last massage was so long ago I can’t even remember it! I liked Rejuvenate Spa so much that I scheduled a facial for tomorrow morning 😮  It’s been even longer since my last facial…

After I was properly chilled out, I went out to lunch with DH and then I’ve spent the rest of the afternoon sewing. I joined another block of the month series and unfortunately I’m 3 three blocks behind! In my defense, I joined late after the first two blocks were already released so I knew I would have some catching up to do.

The series is called Cozy Afternoon and the center pieces are in the theme of a cup of tea. She offers 3 options for the center of each block – you can applique it, embroidery it or you can just use a fabric square. I joined this particular series because I wanted to get better at applique so that’s what I plan to do.

I actually tried to start the border pieces last night and my seam allowances got off so I trashed that effort and started new today…and…I LOVE it!!! Yeah, it’s not perfect but that’s why I’m doing it…to get better 😀

Love these bright colors!!

I just love how the pattern on the teal flower makes it look like a bee is crawling on it…that was just a ‘happy accident’!!

I’m going to try to get Blocks 2 & 3 done before I go back to work on Tuesday…wish me luck!!

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I also wanted to share the fabric that arrived in the mail today…I just love opening those packages – it feels like Christmas morning!! Squeeee!

The July Fat Quarter Club shipment arrived and the color theme is dark blue. Each time I get a new shipment I’m just blown away by the fabrics and the patterns and I was not disappointed with these:

I also received my order from FatQuarterShop.com that I placed using the $50 gift certificate I won…even though I knew what was coming it was still exciting to open it up and feel the fabric…I think I’m becoming a ‘fabriholic’!! I ordered a fat quarter of fall/halloween fabrics so I can make the Patchwork Pumpkin table runner I found on Pinterest.

This picture doesn’t really do it justice…the fabric is heavenly!!!

That’s about all for now…I’ll probably head back into the sewing room after dinner…I’ll keep you posted!!

I love learning something new!

I’ve been working on the baby blanket (that I’ve now named Ashlyn after the yet unborn baby girl whom this is for) and I’m almost to the point of starting the applique…eeeks! I went to Hobby Lobby yesterday and bought some fabric; first I found Kona Cotton in Lavender in the clearance bin – SCORE!! I also bought some other fabric in a darker shade of lavender and then I found it…lavender flannel!! And there was just 2 yards left on the bolt which is more than enough for the back. Lastly, I picked up Heat n Bond, which according to all the tutorials I’ve watched is exactly what I need to adhere the letters to the quilt before actually stitching them on.

Tonight I played with PowerPoint and found a font that I like…I printed out the letters in lower case (using mirror image) and traced it on the Heat n Bond paper. I followed the instructions for adhering it to the back side of the fabric and then I cut out the letters…I’m so excited because they all turned out great!! I placed the letters on the yellow strip and played with positioning them; alternating leaning left/right…for now straight wins out.

After putting them in place (but not yet ironing them on) I felt like I needed something else to balance it out…so I found a flower pattern and made two; one in a large size the other in a smaller size.  Here’s what it looks like so far…

I still need to sew on the lavender borders on the left and right sides and of course iron on and sew the letters and flowers. I have a feeling I should’ve done the applique before I attached the yellow strip to the rest of the quilt…argh…I guess that will be another lesson learned!

I’m really loving the way this is turning out…and hopefully Ashlyn’s parents will love it too!