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!!!!