What you put inside counts!

Oh my - it was so much fun to get back into the swing of the Sit n Sew days. And yes - all that stuff that is still waiting to be put away? It didn't bother us at all. Except I'll have to move a wee bit of it as we will be eight on Sunday so going to need more space.

I got a lot done yesterday. I trimmed a couple of quilts and they are now ready to have the binding attached. I prepped a bunch of zippered pouches and a bag. By prepping, I got the fronts and backs completed for five zippered pouches. I found some lining fabric for four of them. Oops - was going to find the lining for the fifth, but forgot. I cut the Decor-Bond (heavy interfacing) for the linings and cut the Fusible Fleece for the outer. Both products are by Pellon. I love the stuff and buy it by the bolt!

I still need to find zippers but just didn't get that far. Yes - I'm going to start by searching through my huge box of zippers. Then I'll buy some if I can't find anything.

Here's a couple of pictures of what happened yesterday. I got out my lightbox and glued most of the pieces onto the background for the last gingerbread block. I realize that I didn't finish turning the edges under on the roof. So I'll get around to that later today. I also forgot to make a door. Then there are a bunch of hearts for the windows. I have the pieces traced for those hearts, but if I could find some red Ultrasuede that would save turning under all those curves and points of the small hearts. I have Ultrasuede, but where? Doesn't matter for the moment - a good part of the block is glued down and I can start stitching. Last block!!!!

Last block for the gingerbread quilt

I missed getting pictures of what Diane, Linda, and Helen Anne were working on. But they all made great progress!!

Tish was working on a paper pieced block of a book cover. I didn't get a closeup, but she was using selvages for the spine and had clever "sayings" for the title that in most cases went with the cover of the book. I love those blocks!!!! Very artsy!!

Tish's book blocks

Pauline was making half-square triangles. After she made and trimmed all the half-square triangles, she put them on the wall. We helped her move the blocks around until we felt that we had evenly distributed the colors. Great - she was off sewing like crazy. You see, Pauline has NO UFOs. None. This is the ONLY project that she has that is not finished and she was working on it so of course, it couldn't be finished. Can you imagine? I can't. I worked on three or four projects in the day!!!

But do you see what I see? It was only when I went to take a picture of her quilt and looked at it through the camera lens that I noticed that BIG half-square triangle that was formed on the left in the middle. It's just how the value of the squares got arranged. She was going to rip it out. NO - I think it happened for a reason and adds a lot of interest to the piece.

The center of Pauline's quilt top

One of the other things I worked on was my bucket made from the denim pant leg. When I originally made it, I didn't put any interfacing inside as I thought the denim would be stiff enough to provide enough support. I should know better. Well, that bucket was slouchy and I didn't loke it. So I ripped it apart. I fused Decor-Bond onto the lining and sewed it back together. VOILA - It's perfect!!!!  I'm going to find a use for it and I have a HUGE basket of denim fabric that I unearthed. I might just make a few more. I love the pop of color provided by that dotty fabric (ColorsWorks Concepts by Northcott). Yeah - it really does matter what you put inside. USE stabilizers or you'll regret it.

Without Decor-Bond

Fabric bucket made from denim WITH Decor-Bond

When I was new to quilting, I didn't know that some things need to be stabilized (interfaced). I have bag handles that are made with COTTON only. They are the limpest things around. I'm in the process of fixing them. NO ONE will want to use them the way they are. So - if you're new to sewing/quilting - make sure that things are stabilized. There are many products on the market - my preference is Decor-Bond and Fusible Fleece, but others like the foam. I like using two products - one for the outer part and one for the lining, but we all have our preferences.

After everyone left, it was over to the long arm to get another quilt done. I love how the pattern worked perfectly on this one. This is along the bottom edge. How did I do that? Just guessing. I wish I knew the trick to get this consistent every time!!!

The pattern ended right at the bottom of the quilt

Here's the quilt. It's a quilt for Quilts of Valour and it's one of the things on my list of things to get done this month. The binding is made so I hope to trim it today and will get to work on the bindings soon. This is going to be written up into a pattern for Quilts of Valour. I didn't design the pattern, nor did I make the top, but I promised to quilt it. And I promised to make the instructions into a full-blown pattern. Both are due by the end of the month.

Quilts of Valour quilt - done!!!!

I finished this little block the other day and didn't show you yet. This is the 9th block from that mini Block of the Month. I've started the 10th block. Yep - I can see getting this quilt done soon. It's not on any list. I know - I shouldn't sneak those in, but it's my ender/leader project so it's allowed.

Mini quilt block - DONE

Here's my laundry basket. It's not in very good shape as it was damaged by supporting huge amounts of fabric for years. Now I use it to transport stuff between the studios. So it goes up and downstairs about once a day, sometimes twice depending on what I'm doing. I love the system. Once I empty another laundry basket (there are a few), this one will be retired to the garbage since it's a bit damaged, but it's working for the purpose I'm using it for now.

Laundry basket to transfer stuff between the studios

Except for yesterday morning when I was trying to find the cord for my iPad. Where the heck is it? I couldn't find it. Then when I unpacked the laundry basket, there it was! So I need to get in the habit of checking that basket for things.

Now if I could only find the two missing library books that are somewhere in the house. I had even forgotten that I had them. They could be anywhere.

Today, we'll be sewing on some community projects stuff. I have unearthed quite a bit of stuff and I've got it stored in a specific place in the large storage room. I need to get it used up so I can put my own stuff in there! I found quilt tops and all kinds of other things. That's for us to sort out today.

Have a great day!!!!


Ciao!!!