Monday sewing

I've been taking applique or embroidery to Monday sewing and frankly - I can't do it all day. I get bored and that makes me sleepy. I thought it might be the sitting all day but nope - it's the applique. Note to self - try to avoid ALL hand applique in the future! Unless the project is small. I have a couple more hand applique projects to finish and I might just switch to machine applique. I can do the prep there but stitch at home. Something to think about as I get stuff organized for 2020.

So for the next FIVE weeks, this is what's on my schedule.

Number of speaking engagements: ZERO
Number of classes to teach: 2 (short ones), possibly 3
Community projects sewing days: 2, possibly 3 (including today)
Number of Sit n Sews: 2 (that's the official sit n sew days)
Road trip: 1 (it's just a one-day thing)
UFO club: one time (includes pizza lunch!)
Dentist appointment: 1
Monday sewing days: 2 (one includes a pot luck lunch)
Customer quilts to quilt? LOTS


That's it! There are no Christmas dinner parties or running around like mad for shopping. The rest of the time is mine to do with as I please. That doesn't mean that I don't have a lot of things to do, but it means that I actually have the time to sit and do them at my leisure. I also have time to just relax. I so enjoy the Christmas season for that very reason. Around our house - all things are calm and quiet.

Speaking of calm and quiet - Studio B is ready! The pillowcase kits are cut. All is calm and quiet at the moment.

Studio B is ready

This is the prep area. The pillowcase bodies will be pinned to the bands at these two stations.

Prepping stations

Then the bands will be sewn to the bodies. I must find two more pincushions which I don't think I have so the pins can go in and back to the prep area. Oh yes - those lucky volunteers get to sew on those top of the line sewing machines today!!! The machines are turned on, threaded and have extra bobbins wound. Thanks to Jan for donating some thread to the cause! Much appreciated.

Sewing machines ready

This is the serging area where the side and bottom of the pillowcases will be serged. There are three sergers. All are threaded and tested, ready to go. Two are air threading sergers and one is not! Guess which one I did NOT like threading. But I'm getting good at threading so within a half-hour (more or less) all three sergers were ready to go.

Three serging stations

And last but not least, are two ironing stations.

Two ironing stations

And there's a finishing station where the ends of the serger thread will be tucked in. A bit overkill perhaps since there are 10 stations and about 12 of us in total, and not everyone will be here at the same time, but I wanted to have a place for everyone in the event, everyone is here at the same time - which is likely to happen between 10 and 12. We'll be rotating the jobs so no one gets bored.

How long will it take to make 100 pillowcases???? I have to say that I'm kind of excited about the day. And we MUST MUST MUST remember - this is about quality, not quantity. If we don't finish in one day - we don't finish.

Yesterday was all about Bob Ross and there's one thing I forgot to mention. You can buy just about any kind of Bob Ross merchandise. Go ahead - do a Google search on Bob Ross merchandise. OK - I saved you some time. Just click on that link! There's tons of stuff. Anyway, at the retreat, Lynn was telling us about a Bob Ross item that her daughter had purchased. How cute! And so guess what? I now have my own Bob Ross Chia Pet!!!!

Bob Ross chia pet

Isn't that hilarious!!!!  Thanks, Lynn - I have it out now and hope to get it going! I'm not the best with live green things but I'm willing to give it a whirl. I'll keep you up to date on its progress.

I shoveled the driveway yesterday morning and while I was doing that, I warmed up my car so I could chip the ice off the windows. There was almost a ½" of ice! Thankfully, it didn't take long to chip it off after running the car for a wee bit.

I did chip all the ice off the front steps in the afternoon when I got home from Monday sewing. The driveway is still snow-covered, but not icy - I already checked this morning, so the sewists should be just fine today.

I took some non-applique handwork that needed to be done. During the remainder of this year, I'm going to try and finish things. As many things as I possibly can. So that means, I'll be focusing on small things. And I've got a LOT of small things. Zippered pouches, bags and who knows what else I'll unearth. I can't wait to have my own private Sit n Sew days! I love my friends, but I also treasure my solitude.

I started by taking the two placemats that I bought at the dollar store apart. I like the inside of my zippered pouches to be finished so by taking them apart, I can add a bit more interfacing and have all the seams inside. The placemats are the perfect size for a zippered pouch. And there's NO waste. I've got to find zippers.

Two placemats are taken apart 

I trimmed all the thread and removed the stabilizer from my 3-D gingerbread house. Now my PRE-FAB gingerbread pieces are ready for assembly next week. Oh yes - I have to tell you the story of the gingerbread house, but not today.

Gingerbread house components are ready for assembly

I have to say that I'm very happy (and getting very comfortable) with using my iPad as my manual and instructions. The instructions for the gingerbread house? They're on the iPad. The manual for that non-air-threading serger that I had to thread this morning? It's also on the iPad. Now here's the beauty of that. When I had to see the diagram up close to identify the thread path - it was super easy to enlarge the diagram on the iPad.

I'm so glad that I've moved over to the iPad for as many things as I can. And I'll continue to do so. Guess what? It cuts down on the amount of paper that I print. It cuts down on the amount of paper that I can lose. And it cuts down on the amount of paper that becomes precious to me and that I feel compelled to save in a pile in the office.

Using the iPad is a win-win-win for me. I truly wish there was a better filing system though. It sucks and I'll be writing a letter with suggestions to Apple soon. Seriously - ask people who use the darn thing and NOT just for books. The stuff I'm saving is .pdf files. They need a good filing system for .pdfs!

The last thing I accomplished yesterday on Monday sewing was to get these two geckos trimmed and stuffed. (Not an easy task!) They are an in-the-hoop project done on the embroidery machine. They're super cute. All my other ones ran away so I needed to get these two done. All that remains is to sew up the seam along the tummy area (by machine) and I'll try to get that done in the next couple of days.

Two geckos - almost done

So you see - I'm being super productive with my time. That doesn't mean that I don't spend the evening being a slug in my chair reading. I do every single night (that I'm home) and I love it!

I think I mentioned this craft case last week? It's a great case and Lynn managed to snag one for me. Thanks, Lynn!!!!  These were at Wal-Mart, but not my Wal-Mart. For some reason at this particular location, the cases were $2. Yes - someone made a goof because Lynn price-checked another location and they were $10!!!!  I think I'm getting another one from Liz - that's OK - I think it's going to make a great travel case for sewing supplies and I might just keep one for home as well. Sorry - if you're looking for more - Lynn bought the last two on the shelf at the lower price.

Great sewing case

I'll be filling it next week so you can see it in more detail. But I think it's great and a HUGE thanks to Liz who alerted us to the case and to the special price.

On that note, I'm out of here.

We've got pillowcases to make!!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!