Monday Sewing

It's a challenge sometimes to post about something the day after it occurs. Too much stuff happens at my house to stay totally on top of it.

I can't wait to share with you what happened yesterday. It was a scheduled CLEANUP day and oh boy - I'm literally dancing!!!  But that's for tomorrow.

Today, it's all about our Monday sewing and a few other things thrown in.

Since it was our last Monday sewing of the year, we had a pot luck lunch. I LOVE pot lucks! I'm always amazed at out how it works for the savory versus the sweets. We had a bit more savory than sweets which worked out just fine.

Part of the spread for the pot luck

Thank goodness, pot lucks don't happen often. I had a nice lunch including soup and then I felt awful for the afternoon and into the evening. Not awful for what I ate, but how much I ate. I don't eat huge meals anymore and my stomach wasn't happy. What I should have done was eat a bit of the hot stuff, save some of the cold stuff for a snack in the afternoon and the sweets for dinner. I didn't eat dinner that night which is totally unheard of for me.

So there was a lesson to be learned here. Pot lucks are OK, but you (meaning me) CANNOT eat a huge meal so don't even try. Look at it, pace it out and go from there or just eat less or don't try everything. Darn!!!

There are always some very creative and exciting things going on at Monday sewing. I want to make everything, but that's just silly. I know that isn't going to happen, so I just look and enjoy.

Here's a zippered pouch made by Tish. The pattern is the Sew Together Bag by SewDemented. Very cute - there are three zippered sections inside and four non-zippered sections. I wonder how much stuff you can actually put in it and then zip it back up? I love Tish's Home Ec fabric on the outside. Just a side note - if you do a search on the Sew Together Bag, a TON of stuff comes up. Tutorials by video and tutorials that are written, loads of pictures - inside and out. Now how does this work? If I offer a tutorial, why do you need a pattern? Oh - to get the measurements. It's a very fine line for copyright. Not going to worry about it!

Tish made a Sew Together bag

Loretta was quietly working on these ADORABLE applique blocks. WHOA!!!  I've never seen these before. The patterns are designed by a Canadian (A Quilter's Home in Lacombe, Alberta) and they apparently were made for the 150th Canadian Celebration in 2017. The critters are the cutest and you can buy with a kit of Kaffe Fasset fabrics or just the patterns. There are 12 in total. Wait - I think she's added some more - yep there are SEVENTEEN in total. Have a look at the website (link above) to check these patterns out.

Applique pattern

Now I'm popping back to the Sunday Sit n Sew.  Thanks to Liz, I'm now the owner of a new bookmark. You can NEVER have too many bookmarks. Thanks, Liz! That diamond technique is done with a ruler. I can't remember the name of the ruler at the moment, but it's a ruler. WAIT - a quick search revealed the ruler is called the Double Diamond Ruler by Bright Quilting Notions. Their website wasn't working but here's a link to a store that sells the product. 

New bookmark!

And Liz offered me this wooden tote. I think it was originally supposed to be for condiments, but she used it on her cutting table. After a wee bit of downsizing, she didn't have room for it any longer. Hmm - I'm in the process of putting stuff in it. You'll have to wait to see what I put in it.

Wooden tote for studio supplies

Oops - here's one more picture from Monday. This is what I'm now appliqueing. It's a block from the quilt called Nana's Farm. My goal is to get several blocks prepped over the holidays so I can just stitch on the Mondays. Although, I've learned that I cannot stitch all day without boring myself to death. I need to make sure that there is other stuff on the agenda as well.

My applique block

The long arm doesn't know what hit it! It's been working every day with no rest. There's an update to be done - a software update. First, I have to update the tablet (that runs the long arm) to Windows 10 and then update the robot software. I'm NOT about to do that at this point in time in the event there are issues. There are THREE customer quilts left. Then I'll do the update.

Customer quilt - DONE

 That one was picked up yesterday. I did this one yesterday. It's for Quilts of Valour. It needs to be trimmed and it'll go today. In case you're perceptive about this kind of thing - did you notice that this picture is NOT on an angle and NOT that weird perspective. Oh yes - you have to wait for the pictures tomorrow to understand why.

Quilts of Valour quilt

I accomplished quite a bit of paperwork yesterday and that was great. I've got another couple of hours lined up this morning and then I'll be in Studio B for the rest of the day. I love the fact that I put on my calendar some things that need to be done for me. Each day, I open my calendar and it's a surprise what I'm allowing myself to work on. Today it's sample making! I have several things that need to be done and so today is the day.

I even had time to walk to the library to pick up a book that was on hold and I got two more out. I know - I couldn't help myself! And I listened to a good portion of the Linwood Barclay - Elevator Pitch. OH MY - it's a good book.

So here's the thing about books. You can get an e-book and instead of reading it electronically, you can have the computer read it to you. Why the heck would you do that? I'd be bored to tears having a monotone computer read me the story. BUT if you have an audiobook - well, most of the narrators are EXCELLENT. And the inflection added by their voices is incredible. I just love it. Now, I might have done a bad thing. I requested and downloaded The Haunting of Hill House on audiobook? Am I going to scare myself to death listening to that one opposed to reading it? My go-to at the library these days is an audiobook. Then the hard copy! I'm so not into reading the book electronically unless it's the only option. Besides - I like to use my bookmarks!

On that note, I've got loads to get done today and I'd better get started.

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!