Fireside Retreat - Day Two

It's a tad chilly outside, but thanks to not sleeping well and a few dying embers in the wood stove, I've got a nice fire going and we're toasty warm. While I wouldn't want to deal with a wood stove at home, I like having it here and I'm pretty darn good at keeping it going (roots from when I was a child), but Paula is our main firestarter here and I'm perfectly fine with that.

So it's technically day three this morning and I'm still using the serger. Can you believe that?? I'm in love with that serger and as I mentioned yesterday, it's just as fast to cut the threads and rethread from the beginning as it is to tie off the threads. The Husqvarna Viking Amber Air s400 is just the best and now I'm sharing it with Paula as she makes pillowcases. She's amazed at how quickly pillowcases come together in a matter of minutes instead of doing the french seam. Oh yes - every quilter needs a serger.

I even emptied two spools of serger thread. I don't think I've ever emptied spools before. Oh - I know I have, but two in one day?? I even had someone stop by the quilt store to buy me ORANGE serger thread. Wait for that project! I need to go back this morning to get some black thread as I've run out of black. Loads more at home, but I'm on a roll to get projects completed and it's not like I won't be using the black serger thread in the future.

So what have I been doing???

This is a small table topper that I assembled from a kit. I didn't like all the batik fabrics that came in the kit so I substituted two of them. It's serged together with a flatlock using three different spools of decorative thread.

Table topper assembled with a flatlock stitch

Then a ribbon was inserted into the seams. Let's just say that I learned a lot about serging doing this small project. A huge learning curve and it took quite a while, but I'm extremely happy with the results.

Detail of the table topper

Here's my fleece blankie that I made - also using the flatlock stitch and a different decorative thread. I didn't take a close up of the stitches. Shoot. Anyway, the flatlock adds some spice to it. I think eventually that it'll get quilted and bound, but for now, this is the way it stays.

Fleece squares serged together

That was about the extent of what I did on Day One. Like I said, a lot of this is a learning curve for me so things are taking a wee bit longer than normal.

Yesterday was all about bags. I had purchased two different pieces of curtain sheer to make produce bags. One of the pieces got used up when I did the blog posts on QUILTsocial. The other was sitting here. So I cut it up and made 14 produce bags. I learned a lot again! I actually managed to get one more seam done on the serger than what I posted originally and the only thing needing to be done on the sewing machine was to stitch the casing in place. Oh yes - I'm getting really good at serging, although this stuff is just basic.  Check out the new look on QUILTsocial - it got a facelift a while back and I didn't mention it, but oh my - it's very fresh looking.

Reuseable produce bags

I made fourteen of them and gave them to my retreat friends as I do not need more - we already have 16 of them at home. I like to have extra so that we can store the veggies and fruit in them in the fridge. I did have to pop out to get some additional cording as I didn't have enough. Yep - rarely go to Micheals and I've been there at least once or twice each day that we've been here.

Once those were finished, I had to finish a couple of blocks for our block exchange. Those blocks got completed and we did our exchange last night. I'll share that with you over the next couple of days. Let's just say that the blocks are amazing!!!!!

Back to the serger and this time, I was using a stretchy netting to make some laundry bags. I made four in white. I'm in the process of making four black ones, but they are on hold until I get more black thread. Everything was done on the serger except stitching the casing down. I did have to make a few adjustments on the sewing machine for that as this fabric is nasty to work with. But I'm happy with the results.

Three of my laundry bags

Some of us have pretty messy sewing spaces. But we can usually tell Lynn's spot because it's super tidy. However, I was a little disappointed to find that she had gone to bed the other night and left the lid of her project box OPEN!!!!  Holy - she's getting messy!!!!

Lynn's messy spot

I had a visitor yesterday afternoon when I was busy working on the exchange blocks. Pat dropped in and brought me a present. What was it? She brought SIXTEEN pillowcases for Ryan's Case for Smiles. What a pleasant surprise. Thank you so much, Pat - they are going to be very much appreciated.

Donated pillowcases

And that's it! I only did one trip to Micheals yesterday and that was the only time I was in the car. I did go for a LONG walk yesterday. It was beautiful outside and it was such a nice walk. I didn't feel so bad eating a cookie or two after that. One hour and I think four miles???

Well, I have a feeling that I'll be needing a nap later today. My brain just wouldn't shut off last night. Even when I did get up and tried to empty it on a piece of paper that wasn't enough. Oh well.

In case you think I'm up here by myself, I'm not! There are eight of us. I just haven't mentioned them - it's all about me and getting my stuff done! I'll try to take some pictures of the others today.

Here's another poppy display to honor our fallen soldiers. Thanks to Peggy for that.

On that note, I"m out of here.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!