Several Items of Business..

Have you missed me?

I have been busy making a quilt...one I cannot tell you about until after the first part of November.  So be patient...I have taken a couple of pictures of the process and will let you see them then. 

I have finished the top of the quilt and will be handing it over to a LA quilter soon...yes, this one I am not handquilting. There are time constraints and all...

I will also soon be finishing another quilt I have mentioned...the Catch as Catch Can Quilt.  I have a small amount of HQing to do then the final binding/label installment.  Pictures later...

Hopefully I can also finish the Christmas tree skirt (and maybe another one) soon after I start posting again...

Be prepared to be snowed with pictures...in the meantime, here is a little sight from our back yard.....

 

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I am well and good.  But I will be out of pocket for about a month and probably will not be posting during that time.  Notice the probably....

Because of this and other factors, I have decided to suspend the Mini-Giveaways for awhile...when they come back, they will not be on any set day as before....I love giving away items I do not wish to use and probably have several more underneath everything else.  As I run across items, I will publish them as  Giveaways...no set time, but I promise I will let everyone know when one is ready to be posted.

Don't forget me and I'll be back......

First Look - Christmas Tree Skirt in Progress

I only have to match the backing, straight quilt (walking foot) from center to outside on all strips, cut center a little larger, and add the binding.  In other words, I'm not finished yet.

This is how it may stay for awhile, however, and I wanted ya'll to see my work so far.  I am preparing to go into somewhat of a hermit mode starting tomorrow...working on a special quilt which I may reveal sometime in November...

Also some other things are cropping up, as it does in Life sometimes...more on that later.

In the meantime, the skirt has turned out well.  I do have some of the same pieces that ended up next to each other, but I can explain.  See, when I laid it out to place all the strips, I laid the narrow strips the opposite of what they should have been.  By the time I realized it, I had already put together several strips and was too lazy and said, It will never be noticed, what with all the presents under the tree and such....

I am hoping to make another skirt...this time using one design for each strip instead of piecing them.  I should have long enough pieces of each fabric to do it. 

I am also playing with the idea of making a circle insert to lay in the middle of it in case I want it to be on my round table instead....

See you later.........

Old-New Machine - Kenmore 158.1751

See what I bought from my neighbor?

I put the blue behind it to help it stand out.

 

After I bought it, I not only bought the manual for it, I also researched the web and found this review:  Thank you, stitchnerd, I appreciate your blog post.

Anyway, she (neighbor) had bought it for $15 from Goodwill.  It had a note on it saying, "No foot petal", and the legs of the cabinet were missing. It does fold down into the cabinet...


She got it home and found it had a knee lever on it.  She cleaned it and puttered around with it, and decided that she would sell it to me.  Works like a charm....I paid a tad  more for it because of the work she did, and I hope I can find/make legs for the cabinet so I can continue to use the knee lever.  I Love knee levers!  Maybe when DH has the time, with a little push I can have him work this out...

I have wanted another Singer, and since Singer used to make these Kenmore machines, I am comfortable with it....


 Right now, I am not using it because I don't have a good table at the right height to put it on.  And it is a HEAVY DUDE!  The machine by itself weighs about 35 pounds, and the cabinet adds to it.  I really don't want to move it until I have somewhere to put it permanently!

Anyway, this makes 3 sewing machines that I own....I haven't named any yet, but thought of the Three Bears Story.....Baby Bear being my Featherweight, Momma Bear -Janome 6260 and, because of its' weight, the Kenmore 158 is Papa Bear..... Might switch Momma Bear and Papa Bear, haven't decided yet.

Winner - MiniGiveaway #30

The winner of the stamped decorative pillow is

Janet!

Congratulations to her and thanks to the others who commented.   I'll be sending her an e-mail shortly.

Cutting Columns - Skirt

Just starting - 7 down, 21 to go.

Keeping each strip numbered.

I'll be using two of the strips on the tree skirt.  I will be making something else with the top strips.

Mini-Giveaway #30 - Cross Stitch Pillow

Welcome to my 30th Mini-Giveaway....

This one consists of a Stamped Cross Stitch kit.

  A 12" X 12"  Decorative Pillow with back, thread, and directions are included.  The kit has been opened from the top.  I have checked the stamped cross stitch and the back and they are in good condition.  It looks as if all the thread is there, although I have not taken it out to check.  There is a list of colors in the directions....

 The ruffle is an option, and as such can be made from whatever you wish.

The giveaway closes on Friday, August 17 at 10:00am and the winner will be  announced then. As usual, make sure I can contact you some way.

 

Another Project is in the House.....Temporarily....

I have completed my One Thing, One Week Challenge.....I finished the 5" blocks...

I have talked about it....Now it is officially, or assuredly, in view....

A new Christmas Tree Skirt is being made....

With this:

and these:

 140 five inch charm squares, all cut by moi....

Another new experience for me...An adventure in cutting and precise placement....I hope..

I have a little over a week to see how far I can get with this, as well as my HQing...

Because in 6 days I will be receiving fabric for a special quilt..... more on that later...Just let me say that everything will grind to a screeching halt while I concentrate mainly on that quilt....

For now, however, this prevails....See you tomorrow or so with another update hopefully....

Rainbow Top Done - D4P blocks.

I have been working...and have accomplished something!

I combined a package of charm blocks (Rainbow Charms, Keepsake Quilting, a few years old) with a Moda Smoky Grey (I think,,,it was a remnant) and a Stonehenge border.  Ended up with a 48" x 48" (approx.) table topper.  

The color placement was somewhat easy.  I wanted a kinda flow of color from one to the other, and I only had 3 finished blocks of each color, with one extra to work with.  

Still have to decide on the backing and binding...may go with just a simple non-color back, but not sure until I see what the LQS has to offer...

I am going to try and keep this for myself....but may end up giving it away at some point in time.

Whoop! Whoop!

Explanation and/or Excuse - Buying Fabric

Yes, I bought some more fabric...see side bar... I plan to make this and really needed a variety of Christmas fabric. I will be adding some of what I had in my stash to this, so it should be an interesting result. 

This was a huge bargain  and I spend enough to warrant a post about it.  It falls under my loophole exception clause....Unless Really Needed... I bought 1/2 yard pieces to be sure I have enough, and I have even thought of making two of them...not at the same time.  I was able to get a good deal - 20% off with $20 gift certificate for future buys. Plus a free FQ. 

I'll add more from my stash and should end up with a very colorful skirt (plus another Christmas present if I make two of them..).  I have ordered the template shown in the link above and hopefully will begin this new project within a month....

Also, I needed a positive push to get back into sewing again.  I am HQing a quilt, but my sewing machine is gathering dust. 
This is the last project of yearly things to do (see side bar) and I feel I am really following through on that.  

A Blast From the Past....

This is to affirm that I really do Finish, Finish things.....Sometimes I finish a top, which stays unfinished as a quilt for a time; sometimes it is an beta apron which stays unfinished, but has served its' purpose, and sometimes I actually Finish a Quilt, backing, quilting and label and all.....

 

This has been such a long time coming.....some of you may remember when I showed you the finished top ** a long time ago...this was a quilt along that Amy did at one time on her blog.  Unfortunately, it was such a long time ago that I couldn't find the directions anymore on her blog...She may have them elsewhere, I don't know.  

Now it is completely done, bathed, and spiffed up, ready to head out to its' new home...which may be awhile...I would love to take it personally.  That has not been decided yet.

Oh, do you want to see the back?  OK.. here 'tis....

I had some of these large pieces from the front and a little white left, so.....this is the result.  If you make it bigger, you might see all the finagling I had to do.  This was really a "fly by your seat" backing.  But it was fun.

It has been so long since I finished this top.  I find myself looking at what I am piecing now and there is so much difference in design.  But I am loving what I have done,,,and this one really stands out to me...

(Arm sore from patting on back)....

Makes me want to hurry up with the other things I have on the assembly line!

 ** Oh.....the other Quilt  Along that is in the post?  It is still waiting for its' turn at quilting.  

Necessary Repetition- Whoop! (times X times)

I have finished sewing the 2 1/2" strips together for the Wash Day Stars quilt.  

When I started this, I had about 19-22 different fabrics.  I wondered how I could corral these into a somewhat logical arrangement for future cutting/sewing.  I realized that it was very possible to have a repeat of the resulting 4 patches.  To try and eliminate this possibilty,  I came up with this idea.

I laid out all the different fabric strips in small piles..Then I chose one and continued to match that one type with various others until it was all used up.  I then chose another, matched that one with others the same way.  This prevented a possibility of duplication of sewn strips.

This is where I am now.  

I now am faced with keeping in order oodles of  2 1/2" wide segments from each strip that I am cutting.  I plan keep all the strips with a common fabric together in a baggie, hoping that later I can continue to keep from duplicating 4 patches by using the same method of choosing as I did before...

 I usually break up this same-thing monotony  by sewing in between, but am afraid I'll get confused, so I'm going by the directions in the magazine this time.

I would love to hear how ya'll keep order while doing something like this.  I am early enough in this process to rethink ideas, or at least keep them for future reference....

I will be adding my photo with others in Sarah's post on Friday.  Take a look at what others are doing. 

Winner of #29 Giveaway

Sallie is the winner of the Happy Camper panel and fabric!  Congratulations!  I'll e-mail her ASAP and send it on its' way. 

Come back on the 15th of next month and see what's on the agenda then

See you soon.....

Mini-Giveaway #29 - Happy Campers

Todays' Mini-Giveaway is from Happy Camper - American Jane by Moda.

I have a panel, two FQs and a few scraps to give away this month.  The panel is double the length (folded).  This is several years old...When I was in Paducah, I bought a package of FQs of the entire series and this panel was folded up with them.  I had to finish the quilt/binding before I knew what I was going to give away. 

Please comment and be sure you are reachable....After 10:00am on 7/17/12, DH will draw the winner out of the hat as usual. 

I almost kept this to use in a charity quilt, but have so much other stuff, I decided to let it go to one of my bloggin' friends.....

See ya in a few days.....

Four Steps Forward, Two Steps Back (Whoop?)

I feel like I'm working clay on a potters wheel....I know I will turn out to be something great, but not after a couple of missed throws.....

But still it deserves a Whoop!. Check out Sarah and her quilters!

I finished my D4P blocks....but can't decide the placement....

This one kinda recreates the Rainbow effect with these Rainbow Charms....but the blue and teal together seem...........too blue.  Other than that, I really like it.  As I look at it, maybe I should change out the red (top left) and the blue (bottom right) or the teal (next to the blue) and the purple(bottom left).... ????

My DH suggested that I use the blue/teal as a dividing line like so with other colors grouped in 3s....

or lined up like the blue....

 What do you think?  How many times do you play with placement???

On another note, I have finished binding my Quilt Along I did a looonnnggg time ago.  Or so I thought.  I used my featherweight with its' 1/4" seam and it really went well.....except when I finished....

This is the second place I have missed the binding underfold.  I am willing to rip and resew, but am afraid (no, I haven't looked yet) that this may not be all.  I am wondering if I should just resew all the way around....This is going to a relative for just a throw...

Well, that's another decision I will have to make.......must remember next time to allow maybe a little more than 1/4" along the binding.....

How much do you allow for when you bind? 

Must close now,,,enough Creative Procrastinating on my part (writing a post instead of making a decision).

See you in a couple of days with the Mini-Giveaway......

 

Tour of a Quilt Shop

I found another excuse to go to the quilt store close to Marquez!  I needed scissors sharpened! And could do it while I wandered around looking at fabric I could not buy......

And this time I remembered my camera.....

 

I brought my 2 Gingher scissors to this nice lady who happens to live close by.  She and her husband travel to various locations and have a steady clientele all over Texas. Look at all the equipment she has... (including some behind her).  

No web site, but her email is bladerescue@gmail.com.  She even said she accepts mail-in business with a very fast turnaround....

So while she sharpened, I snapped more pictures.....

This compact little store is all in a 30 x 30 metal building...and a better use of space within I have not seen in a long time...

Just look at what is inside...That's Teri, behind the counter....busy, busy, busy.....

...and what is behind those quilts?....

A space to sew/work/teach.....Once a week she opens her shop to whoever wants to come and quilt/sew (bring sack lunch)...the boxes are for the 'Let's Make a Deal" shop hop that was going on.

The floor area around the shelving, counter, and other displays ( made by her DH, btw)  is wide and gives plenty of room to move around. It really looks like it's in a mall or in town.  

She is even ready for Christmas.....the unwrapping will be toward the end of this month.....

All in all , a very welcoming, pleasant place to shop and visit....

See more at her website here.