And so this happens

If I were a mental health expert and I was to diagnose myself, I would say that I border on being manic. I go go go and then crash. Thankfully I don't get depressed. Maybe I'm ADHD. I was up early yesterday and had a busy day. I had dinner around 6 and crashed on the couch. Got up at midnight and went to bed. Needless to say, I've been up for hours this morning! I can't stay up late, but I can sure get up extra early!

And the blog is late and I'm not going to post what I promised. I spent a LOT of time editing pictures for the table runner class. There are a LOT so I'm going to have to break it up over a couple of days. Since all the pictures are now edited, that can easily happen tomorrow. So today, you get what happened yesterday.

First things first. I'm on a roll this week - that manic behavior rises its ugly head and I HAD to get a quilt quilted yesterday. While you might think that this quilt is mine  - it is not! It was pieced by a guild member years ago when we were at a retreat. For whatever reason, she didn't like the quilt when it was finished and gave it to the guild as part of their community projects. I said I would quilt it because it's larger than most people like to do on their domestic machines. I got the backing, the batting and the top in a large garbage bag. I hate to admit that the quilt has sat at the bottom of the pile for a while. I had looked at it several times and I couldn't see the top. How could I possibly have lost that bright orange quilt top?  A while back, I decided to take a good look and there was the top tucked INSIDE the batting. I had to piece the backing and needless to say - it got quilted yesterday. I see there is also binding in the bag. I see that I'll be trimming this and binding it later this week.

Community projects quilt - DONE

I was in the process of loading the quilt when Ronda arrived for our sewing day. Of course, between quilting a quilt and trying to do everything at once - well that manic behavior! I had to get everything ready to wash my Pandora bracelet as we decided that was a good place to start. So it soaked in soapy water for a bit and then I scrubbed it down with a soft toothbrush.

Washing my Pandora bracelet

Ronda very kindly loaded all the charms and whatnot back onto the bracelet (after it was dry), except that she forgot to put the clasp on it! I guess I'll have to figure that out today. By myself!  It would appear that I have a LOT of dangly charms versus the bead type charms. Now how did that happen??? Ronda tried to convince me that the bracelet was too heavy and that I should take some of the charms off. NO - I want them all on. It was a wee bit heavy when I first put it on, but it was fine.

My Pandora bracelet

Then I was off to trim that Toronto Maple Leaf quilt. Good grief - the backing is fleece which is 62" wide. Can you see that almost 6" of that fleece is taken over by the licensing wording?? That's almost 10% lost.  Come on people!!!!

Licensing on the fleece takes up almost 10%

Then I got the fun task of binding that same quilt. And now it's finished and gone!!!  There are only three customer quilts to finish before the end of the year. You know what? I think I might actually make that deadline.

The binding is on the hockey quilt

Ronda was working on a small baby quilt. It's a very neat way that you put the borders and backing on. I think she was following a video online to make it.  And then I totally lost track of what else she worked on.

A baby quilt

Well, I was back at Audra's quilts. Can I really get them all finished by Christmas? There are four to complete. I got the top finished on the Simple Country Sampler. Not my colors, but I worked with what I had in her box.

Simple Country Sampler

I'm happy to report that the backing and the binding are now also made and this one is ready to be quilted. It's on the schedule for next week.

Another quilt ready for the "to be quilted" pile

Since I'm on a roll, I might as well keep going. There is ONE quilt left to piece of Audra's. I dug it out and had no idea what to expect. Hm - this isn't going to be so bad. Here's the top as I found the blocks. Only 10 blocks missing. 

Garden Twist quilt  from In the Beginning

There were two little baggies with the components for the missing blocks. Bless her heart, but EVERYTHING was impeccably labeled. Thank you, Audra!!!!

The components for the missing blocks

I've already made half of the missing blocks - thanks to being up way before anyone else. It was even too early for the dogs. I didn't get a picture with the new blocks added. You'll see it soon I hope.

Then I was off to my finishing corner. I've pulled out all the quilts that need labels (OK - not all the ones that need labels), or binding. The machine is set up and I'm ready to go.

The finishing corner

Remember how I said that I might be able to make 100 finished projects this year? Well - there are almost 20 projects in that corner alone and each one might need one or two hours. I think I might be able to make it.

Here's quilt number two of Audra's and it's completely done. The binding is on and there's a quilt sleeve hand stitched in place. I was texting with her daughter last night and no labels. Not my choice, that's what I was told. She probably doesn't know the difference, but I'm going to leave it at that.

Underground Railroad Quilt from Quilt in a Day

That makes finish number 74 for the year!!!  Not counting quilts that got moved to the "to be quilted" pile nor customer quilts. I know I can make 100!!!!

I have too much stuff and I spend more time than I would like managing that stuff. Here's some stuff that I pulled from that messy corner and I want to try and deal with it today. I know - it would be way better to pull one box at a time out of the messy corner and deal with that and then get another box. I can't seem to work like that. I've tried and it just doesn't work for me!!!  I need to see this huge pile and then I whittle away at it. When I need the space, I cram everything back into the messy corner. Now how unproductive is that?

Things to tidy up today

 Again, due to my early hour of getting up, the table looks much better than this. I won't have to put as much back when I need the cutting table. Who knows - I have a fairly relaxed day ahead of me - I might just get more of it cleaned up.

Yesterday was like Christmas at my house. I was expecting someone to stop by and deliver a coffee maker that they no longer wanted. It's going to a good home with the Monday sewing group. The doorbell rings - oh the coffee maker is here. Nope, that would be the UPS man delivering a box from the US. Two of my magazine quilts have arrived safely at home. I really must show you my quilt storage area one day. It's insane.

A box with two quilts arrived safely home

We're merrily sewing away and the doorbell rings again. Oh - it must be the coffee maker this time. Nope - this time it was Canada Post delivering a VERY HEAVY package that I had to pay HST totaling $7.55 PLUS a handling fee of $9.95 for a total of $17.50.  Mind you considering what was in the box, I should be very happy that that's all I had to pay!!!!  I'll share with you what was in the box on another day. I'm seriously running out of time. Let's just say that the box was packed on December 5 coming from the US and arrived at my house on December 13. Not back considering the mess our postal system is in at the moment.

A mystery box arrived

 And much later in the afternoon, the doorbell rang yet again. This time it was the coffee maker. It's all ready to go on Monday!

Before my brain shut down at dinner, I did manage to work a wee bit on the puzzle. I have a feeling that there are a lot of missing border pieces in that huge mess of pieces. I almost have one side done!!!

Progress on the jigsaw puzzle

Today is a day of prepping for tomorrow and paperwork. Plus I have one more quilt that I want to get quilted and try to clean up that mess on the cutting table. And there's much more on the list to do. I need to learn to STOP and relax. My problem? I fall asleep if I'm not busy!  How did I ever survive in an office sitting in a chair all day???

On that note, I'm out of here.

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!

Pandora's box (es)

I'm late this morning. Back from the gym where I eeked out 32 KM in an hour. And I'm an idiot. I was at the gym on Monday and when I'm done my workout, I like to sit for a bit in the steam room. I saw a note saying "the spa would be closed all week due to repairs".  Oh, shoot. I didn't go in the steam room. Well, this morning, the HOT TUB (AKA the spa) was dismantled. I see - they call the hot tub the spa. Now I know. Needless to say, I had a great 10 minutes in the steam room! I'm all pink and wrinkly.

I stepped on the scale this morning. Not bad news - still not over that buffer zone of mine, but I think there are a few too many cookies being eaten! I can't help it - it's winter and I need that extra layer of fat to keep warm! OK - after I eat this last package of refrigerator cookies - that's it! And I'm going to do a detox in January to get myself back on track!

In case you're wondering, the magazine quilt is NOT done. I got the top pieced and it was loaded on the long arm before lunch. But there was a lot of stitch in the ditch and I was bored since I don't have an audiobook. OK - I could have downloaded another one. I did find two other books that I wanted to listen to - both of them are now on hold.

Anyway, the quilt is almost finished. There's about one more hour of quilting and then binding and sleeve. It'll go out this afternoon. I'm OK with that.

Today, I'm sharing with you what I worked on at Monday Sewing. This is one of my UFOs from 2017. It's called Misty Pines by Patti Carey and was published in a magazine a while back. (McCall's Jan/Feb 2013). I taught this class several times and sold kits as the fabric was very specific. Check out this link from 2015 where we are having a class.

Misty Pines by Patti Carey

While the quilt itself isn't complicated to sew, it's complicated by the fact that there are 12 fabrics that are very close in value and pattern and you need to keep them straight. LABEL LABEL LABEL.  These are the blocks/pieces that are completed.

Completed blocks

 When I made the kits, I had 12 baggies each with the pieces from one of the 12 fabrics. There was a paper note in each identifying the pieces. As I was working on the blocks above this past week, it became pretty clear that TWO bags are MISSING!!!!   How could that be????

The bags from the kit I made

When I was prepping this project for the Monday sewing bag, I must have "lost" two of the little baggies? They were all together in another zip loc bag. I don't remember what kind of a container they were in. I thought there were two boxes - one for my quilt and one with all the extras in it. 

But I have the bag with all the leftover scraps. No Ziplocs with pieces. 

Bag of leftovers from cutting the kits

 I cut those kits years ago - I am certain that I would not have short changed myself. That means they are in the studio somehwere. But where???  No time to look today and I can move to the next component to sew which is what I'll do on Monday. But ACK!!!!  I'd better find that bag or I'm going to have to do something very creative to finish the quilt.

Then I worked on the little paper pieced blocks for the other quilt for my Mom. This is the fall quilt. These little quilts are going to be the death of me. I hadn't sent the other two because of the postal issues. When I spoke to her last week and mentioned that I'll be putting them in the mail soon, she says "oh - we don't have room for that on our door as we have a wreath!" Just shoot me in the eye!! Quick!!!

Paper pieced blocks

This past Monday I was searching through the toolbox on my sewing machine. Not sure why I was doing that. But I found something interesting. At our last retreat, Katheleen was having trouble with her glasses. The screws were loose and no one had a small enough screwdriver to help her out. I'm hoping that she managed to get her glasses fixed by now. But look what I found in my sewing machine toolbox. A teeny tiny little screwdriver. The kind you need to repair glasses. Now, why the heck is that in there? And where did it come from??? I've had that sewing machine for almost 20 years. The screwdriver has probably been in there for 19!

Teeny tiny screwdriver

At the Sit n Sew on the weekend, we got to chatting about Pandora bracelets. I mean - who doesn't have one? I know there are people that do not have one, but it seems that a LOT of people have one or more. I have one and I don't wear it often. Matter of fact, I don't think I've worn it all year. Why? Becaue there are new charms that need to be added and I have to move those spacers and I'm an idiot and too lazy/too challenged to make that happen. Look - there's the bracelet and FOUR boxes of stuff to add to it!! It's going to be like Christmas when I get it all together!

My Pandora bracelet

It seems like a lot of work to move the charms around (OK - better than the old style of charm bracelet we used to have), but then it was easy to add a charm wherever you wanted. But I dug the bracelet out becaue Ronda is coming tomorrow and she's going to help me get it all together. I did play around with it and I think I can figure it out. Just a question of sitting down and doing it. OK - tomorrow's the day!

I got a bit more work done on Audra's quilt. It's amazing what time you wake up when you go to bed early! I won't tell you. Because the blocks are too small, I had started to take some of the blocks apart and resew them together. OK - I only did that once. Now I'm just adding a spacer to make the blocks the same size. The two top rows are complete and sewn together. The third row is ready to sew together and I have to add spacers to the last row.  I might just get that done in the next day or so and then it can be quilted next week. I'm super excited about that!!!!

Audra's Simple Country Sampler by The Rabbit Factory

On that note - I'm out of here. Loads to do and no slacking off today!

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!

Sit n Sew day

So.......   did you shop yourself silly yesterday? It was Black Friday after all. Or should I say that it was just one more day to shop in the madness that now appears to be Black Friweek! The sales are getting ridiculous and who needs all that stuff anyway? I was at the computer for most of the day and the number of e-mails regarding Black Friday sales was crazy. Buy this! Save this! Only four hours left! Nuts - totally nuts. Did I buy anything? I went the entire day without buying something until I was at Oh Look Fabric last night (teaching the rope bowl class) where I did buy a small kit - not a fabric kit, but a paper kit. I'll show you another day - when I get it made! Cost me $20.

As promised, I'm going to share with you what happened at the Sit n Sew. No, I should rephrase that - you get to see what we worked on, not what happened or what was shared!

We were a pretty prolific group. I didn't get pictures from Claudette or Rose. I know Claudette was working on some doll quilts and Rose was working on blocks from a shop hop. Shoot - next time - get pictures of everyone!!!

This is a quilt that Tish finished off. We had been at a retreat several years ago and I was making a quilt from this Northcott flannel. I can't remember the name of the collection and I can't find it on their website. I had some leftovers that she coveted and I gave them to her. This is the quilt that she made. Super cute and way to use up leftovers!!!

Tish's polar bear quilt

I got the top completed for this quilt. The pattern in the box was from 2001! It wasn't mine, but it ended up at my house. I decided to finish it and then it'll be donated to a community project. It wasn't difficult to finish up - the blocks were made and the sashing and cornerstones were cut. The tricky part was how to get enough binding, backing and the border out of one big piece.

I finished this top

Here are the quilt top and the backing. It was going to be tight to precut the binding, so I'll make the binding from the leftover backing once it's quilted.

Now in the "to be quilted" pile

Diane was back and she was prepared. She had all the batting inside the fabric strips and so she made TWO jelly roll rugs. Can you see what the fabric is on this one??

Jelly roll rug

 How about now???  That's tractor fabric! What a great way to use up some of my leftover traffic fabric. But to get there - not on the radar screen for a long time. The pattern is by Roma Quilts.

Tractor fabric jelly roll rug

 This is the second one that she made. This was from a jelly roll. Very pretty. I think that is the last of the jelly roll rugs for Diane! It took her about two hours for each to assemble the rug. She's very good at it and it makes a difference not having to manhandle the rug - that big flat surface makes a huge difference.

Another jelly roll rug by Diane

Tish had this small hand embroidered piece with her and wanted to make something from it. I love how she just wings stuff. That's such a great talent to have and I wish more people could be that free in how they put things together.

She started off with a couple of borders.

A couple of borders added to a hand embroidered block

Then one more border with flying geese. She was determined to use fabrics that she had in her stash.
Pretty cute for an afternoon's work.

Tish's Christmas wall hanging

I'm really going to have to keep a list on Sit n Sew days. Who is the worse culprit for forgetting to bring something? Last time, it was the thread. This time, Pauline forgot her fabric and her ruler. She brought the Christmas fabrics for the diamonds, but no ruler to cut them. Thankfully my ruler was close by and I happened to have some beige fabric that worked for the background.

Table topper 

 This is a pattern by JayBird Quilts. It's called Rock Canady. She did an amazing job to get it cut and pieced in one day!

I'm happy to lend or give stuff to these guys when they come. You know what that means - I've set a dangerous precedent which is why I'm going to keep a list!  Don't want people taking advantage! But it happens - I've gone places and forgotten things. I went to a retreat and forgot thread. Thankfully the quilt store was close by.

But I have my limits. I'm not selling my stash or getting rid of anything major so no needs to get in a line for a long, long time!

Pat started her 150 Canadian Women quilt. I have to say that it was a comforting thought to know that all my 150 blocks were done. She made great headway on the project while she was at the Sit n Sew.

Pat's 150 Canadian Women

 Helen Anne received this kit a while back. The quilt was designed by Patti Carey using Northcott's Colorworks and Colorworks Concepts fabrics. A picture of the pattern is at the bottom of that page in the link - it's called Fractures. Patti donated the kit to our guild for our community projects and Helen Anne volunteered to make the quilt. It took three Sit n Sew days, but the top is DONE. It just needs a good press and then it'll be ready for quilting. I volunteered to quilt it.

Fractures by Patti Carey

 We think the pattern would look amazing with a floral panel as well. Helen Anne is on the hunt for something to try it again!!!!  In my stash, I found enough of the black border fabric for the binding. I also found in my stash two coordinating prints (from ColorWorks Concepts) that'll make a great backing for the quilt. They just need to be sewn together.

The backing for the quilt

 And that takes care of a bit more fabric in the stash. You see, I'm perfectly happy to give it away or sell it, but there has to be an IMMEDIATE need. There'll be no moving my stash to someone else's stash. It might as well stay at my house.  Just saying..............

I'm in the repair mode these days. I spent the rest of the afternoon ripping and fixing things. I figure if it's not going to get used the way it is - then take it apart and remake it. Case in point, this cute zippered pouch. I was in a class and I did it the way the instructor said. I didn't like the end result - the ends of the zipper are too bulky. So I took the entire thing apart and will reassemble it my way (god - I'm persnickety!) But it'll be a whole lot better and then I'll be happy to use it.

This zippered pouch before it was dismantled

 I worked on a couple of other small projects, one was also a repair job. I'm almost completed both and will share them with you when I get them done. I need a whole pile of small projects to finish off so I can get to my 100 items for 2018. I still have 31 to go!

I fixed the waistband on this pair of pants. Who in their right mind makes an elastic waistband this large? And who in their right mind buys a pair of pants with that wide of an elastic waistband? Me of course. So I added a couple more rows of stitching to prevent the elastic from folding over inside the waistband. Mission accomplished. That didn't count as a finished item for the year.

Waistband fixed

This makes me laugh because do you remember a time when only "old ladies" wore pants with elastic waistbands? The younger generation would keel over at the thought. Can you even buy a pair of pants without some form of elastic in the waistband or without lycra or spandex in the material? Sure makes for more comfortable pants, but sometimes - they just bag way too much.

I found a brand new pair of pants in my drawer and decided that I should wear them. Too big! Good grief. They fit OK, but with the stretch in them causes the butt to sag. According to a certain someone in my house, that's not attractive. I don't really care, but they are definitely too big. 

After everyone left, I dug something else out that I hope to get finished by the end of the year. That will count for FOUR projects. These are the quilts that I offered to finish for that student of mine who passed away a while back. I'm in communication with her daughter now and it's time to get these done. Plus it will be nice to get rid of this laundry basket of stuff from the studio.

Basket of quilts to be done

There are five quilts in total. One is completely done unless she wants a label on it. Two quilts are ready to be quilted - both are small. And the other two quilts are still in bits and pieces. This is one of our $10 quilts from years ago. It's called the Simple Country Sampler bu The Rabbit Factory. I HATE HATE HATE Pinterest. When you try to search for something, you get five million hits on Pinterest, but not the SOURCE of whatever you're looking for. God, I hate Pinterest.

Simple Country Sampler by The Rabbit Factory

This is how the quilt looks as I took it out of the box. She had made eleven of the sixteen blocks. 

Simple Country Sampler quilt

She was working on the twelfth block. I wasn't happy with her seams and the RED thread that she was using to sew it together. So I painstakingly ripped it apart. Oh yes - she backstitched at each end of the seam and double stitched the seams in some cases as the tension was off on her machine. Oh well - I thought long and hard about Audra evening as I reworked that block. But she was a lovely person and I'm happy to do this for her daughter whom I had met on several occasions.

Ripping out the house block

 That red thread was clingy and it was everywhere!

The red thread was everywhere as I ripped out the block

Now the house block is done. I'm not even looking at the seams on the other ones. This is how it stays. There are four more blocks to make. Three with applique. Oh, joy!  But I hope to get one more completed later today. Then I'll tackle the applique tomorrow at Sit n Sew.

Now there are twelve of sixteen blocks done

The last quilt is pieced only. I know there are blocks made but I haven't opened it up to check it out. It would be nice to get all these quilts out of the house by Christmas. But I still have customer quilts to do as well. Not many, less than 10. One more got loaded on the long arm yesterday while I was busy with the embroidery machine.

I also worked on the enders/leaders project. Getting close to finishing these blocks. Then I have to find something else to work on. No worries about that! I've tons of little triangles to sew together and I should get back at that.

Enders and leaders project

On that note, I'm out of here. It's the reveal class at The Hobby Horse. Our last class for the year of the two different year-long projects. I can't wait to see what they have come up with.

Have a super day!!!!!


Ciao!!!!