For all the finishes I had last week…I’ve got nothing this week – Ugh!
I had plenty of time to work on projects but just couldn’t get my arse in gear – so frustrating 😦 I spent my evenings either watching TV, surfing the net or reading.
The only photo I have to share is one I took when we went out for an early dinner Friday. We went to Damon’s on the beach and got a table on the deck, the weather was perfect!
#nofilter
My plan today is to use a hera marker to mark quilting lines on my Trip Around the World and then ‘get it done’!!!
I got two tops finished this past week and a I made a few more masks.
I’m not making masks in any production line way…just a few here & there when I want a quick finish. I talked to my Mother last week and she said she had only one mask so I made 7 up that night and put them in the mail to her the next day. She doesn’t go out a lot, in fact right now she’s only going out if she as a very important Dr appt but I wanted her to have enough so she doesn’t worry. Of course, in my haste to get them out the door I didn’t take any pictures 😦 The pattern I’m using is from Bijou Lovely, I really like this one because there are pleats at the nose and chin which give it a nice fit.
I made up a few more masks last night for a friend that asked for masks – these will go in the mail tomorrow
As for the tops, I finished piecing Modern Puzzle and then folded it up until I’m ready to make the backing.
Next up I turned to my Trip Around the World. I was stuck not sure how to move forward with what I had – the top section was two strips less than the bottom.
I was going to make that top section a pillow cover and work with the rest but then I found enough fabric pieces to make two more strips!! So that’s what I did…and then I pieced it into one big panel! I auditioned several fabrics to make the piece wider and found this lovely bright yellow. It doesn’t match the other shades exactly but I like it! This is where I’ve stopped, it measures 54×56. Next I’ll figure out the backing and get it basted, I already have an idea for quilting – I’m thinking about echoing the diamond shape out into the yellow using straight lines…we’ll see how I feel once it’s basted!
My Pfaff needs it’s annual cleaning and I was going to drop her off last Monday but I didn’t and as the week wore on I didn’t want to go through the weekend with out her so now I’m dropping her off tomorrow. They said it should only take about a week, I hope it’s less!
I’m also looking at getting a sewing machine table that I can ‘drop’ my Paff into. I’ve looked at several and dang they sure are pricey! I don’t need anything with drawers or moving sections…I just want a table to drop my machine in so it’s level with the top. I’m currently researching Eversewn “Loft” series and I’m leaning toward the Loft 3. I’m waiting to get the dimensions of the opening to be sure my machine will fit.
We celebrated our Sammie girl’s 12th Birthday yesterday…we spoiled her with lots of love and kisses and gave her a few extra treats!
That’s all for now…have a great rest of your weekend & stay safe 🙂
The good old days of planning trips, vacations and weekend getaways are lost right now, so I decided to take a little quilting ‘trip around the world’. I’m not physically going anywhere, it’s actually a type of quilt making method I first saw on an old episode of Quilt in a Day from Eleanor Burns. Thanks to the internet, I was able to find it on YouTube.
This was my first attempt at a ‘trip’ and I thought I had it down after watching her video – and a handful of others as well. I picked out 9 different FQ fabrics and cut the 4″ strips…this is where I made my first mistake. I realized later the number of fabrics I was using would make my ‘trip’ extremely oblong shaped, ‘Doh!
I sewed the strips together and wanted to get as many trip strips from each so I subcut at 2.25″… it only occurred to me later this means there are more seams which again would make the ‘trip’ very narrow, double ‘Doh!
Once I laid out the first half, it finally dawned on me this was going to end up more like a table runner and less like a quilt!! I made an executive decision to adjust the second half by shortening the remaining strips…now my ‘center’ is off center.
I finished piecing the ‘off center Trip’ and then I pieced the left over strips and put them up on my design wall together… now I’m torn! I could piece them together which would make my Trip centered but I’d need to remove the two outside strips …or… leave it as is and make a pillow cover from the left over section. UGGGGH! I’ve left it up on my wall for now, hopefully I can make a decision in the next few days 😮
As you can see in the photo above, my Modern Puzzle pieces are still on the design wall. I paused that project while I played with the Trip. I went back to it over the last few days to square up the blocks and I’ve got the first two columns pieced. I should have the top done later today.
Some of these blocks are not quite the same size which is due to some of the fabrics being cut from the length side of the fabrics but also because I don’t sew a consistent 1/4″ seam. I made a purchase about a week ago that has helped with my seams – Seam Tape from Cluck Cluck Sew. These next two photos are from her website; the tape couldn’t be any easier to apply – it’s just like washi tape and you line the red line up with your needle. It’s promoted to help with sewing diagonally, like HSTs, but I haven’t used it for that yet. I’m just using the 1/4″ mark on the right side to ensure I’m getting a scant 1/4″ seam and it’s been working great!!
The only hiccup is my bobbin case, mine is right in front of the needle area so I’ve had to lift the tape each time I need to replace the bobbin. I’ll address this in the future by making cuts where the bobbin cover comes off. I’m actually dropping my machine off at a local shop on Monday to get it’s annual cleaning – ugh…I’ll be without her for a few days…now I wish I had purchased a backup machine 😉 It’s OK, I really need to give my sewing room a good cleaning and organizing …maybe this will give me the push to do it!! If all else fails I can always find another pattern and start cutting!!
That’s all for now…stay safe & stay sane…and have a great rest of your weekend 😀
Seems like a fitting title for what the world is experiencing right now…but no, it’s just the name of the pattern I’m playing with. As I was scrolling through the various blogs I read, I came across Mary making this quilt and thought my stack of 5″ squares would be perfect for this. Each block takes four 2.5×4.5 pieces of each contrasting fabric. I thumbed through my stack and found all the matching fabrics and had just enough to make 36 blocks
This will make a 48″ square quilt, good for a baby or small child. I still have a good stack of charms left, most of them are light to medium values.
Not much else has been going on around here…my anxiety seems to be settling down a little which is a good thing, although I’m not sure what I’ve been doing that’s helped…maybe it’s the Headspace meditation I’ve been doing each morning 🙂
My weight has been holding steady even though I’ve not been making the best food choices, I guess that’s a win? I have been trying to eat more fruit – apples, oranges, blueberries, strawberries – but I’ve also been eating Reese’s easter eggs, cookies & cupcakes. I’m definitely a ‘stress eater’ so all this COVID stuff has sent me into an eating tailspin which makes me feel even worse afterward.
On the bright side, the weather here has been so nice – 70’s during the day, 50’s at night. At least we can sit outside and soak up some Vitamin D 🙂 We ‘went out’ for dinner last night – we drove through Wendy’s and then sat in the car to eat it…it was sad but also hilarious!!!
That’s all for now…stay safe & stay sane…and have a great rest of your weekend ❤
I abandoned the ‘color wash’ layout from last week in favor of a fun big block called Disappearing 25 patch. Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict posted the tutorial on her blog last Sunday and it was specifically designed for 5″ squares!
I laid out the four patches in the corners then pulled my solid stash to fill in the center row/column, yes that meant cutting more 5″ squares :-p I worked on putting the layouts together for a day and started piecing the blocks. Then came the fun part of cutting them up and sewing them back together…Ta-da! I have a finished top, it measures approx 44″ square.
Believe it or not I still have a ton of 5″ squares left!
I was going to fold the top up and work on something else but then I started pulling fabrics for the backing and before I knew it I had pieced the back!
This is where I’ve stopped. I found some fusible polyester batting in my closet and it’s the perfect size for this quilt but I really don’t like that batting. I’ll leave it for now and maybe I’ll feel differently in a few days! Ha!
I started playing with an idea called Magic Star I saw on one of the blogs I follow. Her block is made with 10″ squares but since I still have so many charm squares I sized it down and made a few. The sub block measures 4″ and the ‘star’ will finish at 7.5.
In other news, I decided to try baking again but this time it was cupcakes. Yay, they turned out so good and no finger burns!!!!! LOL I used a box yellow cake mix and chocolate frosting in a can (whipped in the mixer). It made 24 cupcakes, the rest have been stored in the fridge…but I’m not sure how long they’ll last since DH had 3 after dinner last night!!!
So weird but necessary…I still feel like we’re stuck in a Sci-fi movie. I’ve done a pretty good job of staying away from all the negative news and I’m feeling a little better but I haven’t gotten as much done as I thought I would.
Early last week I started piecing the monochromatic Plus top. I decided to break it up into 9-patch sections so they’d be easier to sew together, this is where I stopped that night.
It was 2 days later when I finally finished the top
Then a few days later I pulled out my batting scraps and made some ‘franken-batting’ for this quilt. I don’t usually do this many scraps but once I got started I just kept adding. I sure hope all those seams won’t be noticeable in the finished quilt
Once I had that finished I glue basted it all together – and this is where it still sits. I can’t decide how I want to quilt it…I’ve looked at charm quilts online for inspiration but nothing is speaking to me 😦
I got my shipment of sew-on velcro and finished the Safelight case set I started 2 weeks ago, now I’ll start making a few more sets.
I had such high hopes of spending all my ‘isolation’ time in my sewing room and that’s just not happening.
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No weight loss this week but I’m staying steady so I’ll take that as a win!
I’ve been trying to keep myself and my mind occupied so I don’t obsess over every bit of news that gets announced. It feels like they’re doing updates every two minutes and it can be so overwhelming if I let myself consume it all…so…I’ve not been watching very much TV and I’ve been trying to stay off social media as much as I can.
I want to spend all my time in my sewing room but for some reason I have this ‘fear of running out’ mentality – UGH! There is no way I’ll run out of fabric in the next couple of months but my mind just keeps saying ‘but what if I do?’ and that seems to be spoiling all the joy. I’m going to fight off that feeling and get in there today!!!
I did get a few things accomplished before this ‘fear’ mentality set in. I finished quilting the Plus quilt
And here’s the back side
I even got it all bound. I chose a dark blue batik I had left over from another quilt a few years ago
Then I took a little break to work on a smaller project for a charity called Safelight Project 2020. Carole posted about this a few weeks ago and I printed off the pdf pattern for the sunglass case, cosmetics bag and tissue holder. I initially used a self-adhesive velcro and tried to sew through it but my needle got so gummed up I had to remove it. I pulled off that velcro and I’ve ordered some ‘sew on’ velcro from Amazon.
While that project waited I pulled out some orphan strip sets and sewed them in columns but I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them until Debbie @sparethreads suggested I add background fabric between the strips and use it as backing – brilliant!!
I pulled some white from my yardage bin and cut the pieces. I’m not sure I like the quality of this white fabric (it’s a little to ‘gauzy’ for my liking) so I’ve left it hanging on the design wall until I make up my mind. Once I figure it out I’ll piece the monochromatic plus top and this will be the backing for it.
And that’s where my sewing ended… it was National Quilting Day yesterday and I didn’t go in my sewing room at all! Ugh, so sad!! 😦 But the weather was gorgeous here yesterday and I spent a lot of time outside. I’m hoping all that vitamin D will give my mood a boost! 🙂
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No weight loss this week, but no gain either :-p We’ve been eating at home almost every meal and before all this social-distancing stuff I believed cooking our meals would help me drop weight…now that I’m doing it all I see that was just false hope – HA! I really need to watch what & how much I put in my mouth!!
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That’s all for now…enjoy the rest of your weekend ❤
It’s a very strange time right now…it feels like science fiction movie I can’t get out of, but I’m trying to stay calm and not let anxiety rule my thoughts. The best medicine for me is to stay in my sewing room as much as possible.
I decided to use one of the Connecting Threads fabrics that came in a few weeks ago and the remaining blocks from the Chandelier quilt to make the back. It kinda gives it an ‘antique-y’ feel.
I no sooner got that done and I found a pattern I wanted to try with all those 5″ squares I cut so down that came and up went this Scrappy Plus pattern
And here is it all pieced! The pieces sat on my design wall for a few days until I decided to throw caution to the wind and sew it together.
Last night I made a backing out of yardage scraps but I didn’t stop to take any pictures! I glue basted it and now it’s under the needle waiting for me to quilt on it today
I’ve also put another Plus quilt up on my design wall and this one will be pieced next…don’t adjust your monitor it’s supposed to be monochromatic!
I still have more than half of that stack of 5″ squares left so I’ll need to figure out what’s next!!
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I’m going to mention this again…this horrible situation has taken a back seat to all the COVID19 stuff but I don’t want to forget about these people who still need so much. If you’d like to help out you can get more details here. I haven’t taken my quilts to the Post Office yet…but I better get a move on before THAT gets closed down too 😦
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I haven’t lost any weight this week but that doesn’t surprise me, I’m a stress eater…however I’m happy to say I haven’t gained any weight either so I guess I’ll mark that as a win!!
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That’s about all for now…stay safe and have a great rest of your weekend.
I spent a little time in my sewing room last week but it was scattered. I have my scraps sorted into bins by color and I got started by pulling the ones that were over-flowing and I just kept going. I started cutting 5″ squares last time I posted and I kept that up…by the time I had gone through all my bins I had this stack almost 8″ high!
Now that I’ve done all that cutting I need to decide on a few ‘charm’ patterns to make! Lucky enough, Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict is running a series on her blog this month with those kinds of patterns!
I also got my Chandelier quilt top pieced…I sewed the diagonal rows together a few each night and now it’s done!
I’m still trying to decide what I want to use for the back – I grabbed some fabrics on clearance from Connecting Threads a couple of weeks ago, one of these just might do the trick
I have 6 blocks leftover from the front that I’m going to work into the back as well, my plan is to get that done today [fingers crossed!]
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I officially changed my WW plan to Online only last week and I’m actually relieved. I think the stress of attending a workshop I didn’t really like was making me eat more! Haha!! And now that Officials are recommending we we stay away from large crowds (Coronavirus!) it makes even more sense.
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I’m sure you’ve heard about the horrible tornado that hit middle Tennessee last week. If you’d like to help out you can get more details here
I’ve got 4 lap quilts I’ve finished over the last couple of months just waiting for a home so I’ll be sending them off next week.
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And hopefully you remembered to change your clocks last night/this morning:
That’s all for now…have a great rest of your weekend!!
I just realized I missed posting here last week 😮 How the heck did that happen! I also lost my #dosomethingquitlyeveryday mojo last week…maybe they’re connected, LOL
Let’s see what I have to catch up on… Two weeks ago I caught the ‘start-itis’ bug and pulled out my solids stash & scrap bin. I purchased a die from Accuquilt a few months back and figured it was time to try it out. It cuts 2.5″ strips so I went through that bin cutting as many different colors as I could find
Then I followed the instructions for the ‘Jelly Roll Race’ quilt and started sewing…I had over 1900″ in total length!
It took two days to finish the top… woah, that’s a lot of color!! It measures 60×61 at the moment.
This is where I started to lose a little steam… I noticed my ‘scrap pillowcase’ was starting to get pretty full so I sewed up the end and now it’s ready to be donated to my local shelter.
Start-itis hit again and I pulled out more fabric and started playing. I decided to cut 5″ squares from the remaining pieces fabric from my Squared Up quilt and looked for a pattern I hadn’t made before…enter the Chandelier quilt
And this is as far as I’ve gotten…I lost my mojo after putting this up on the design wall. It just needs to be pieced into a top but I avoided my sewing room for three straight days 😦
To break the cycle, I finally forced myself to just go do SOMETHING in my sewing room. I still wasn’t up for sewing this top together, instead I pulled out my scrap bins and started cutting 5″ squares. This made sense to me because I’m on a mission to use up all my scraps and Sarah of Fabric Addict Quilts is posting ideas for using charm squares for her Hands2Help charity challenge this year… WIN/WIN! I got this lovely stack accomplished last night.
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I haven’t lost any weight over the last two weeks and I’ve decided I’m changing my WW membership to Online only. I’m just not going to the meetings and paying for it certainly isn’t motivating me. I have been tracking my food with the app so I’m just going to try that for a while.
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That’s all for now…have a great rest of your weekend!
