A trip down memory lane

I LOVE hearing all your stories of repurposing projects, prepping for upcoming surgeries (good luck), and ideas for my Prince challenge. It's a process to be sure, but when you have a plan, or whatever you want to call it, life is good. I know the times I find hardest are when I have something (or multiple things) to do and no plan. Sometimes that is as simple as writing things down. 

I had several computer tasks to do, and I kept reviewing them in my head. That was taking up a lot of energy to keep track of them. I wrote them on a piece of paper (I KNOW - I should have put them in the computer to-do list), but this way they were right in front of me, and all of them were URGENT. This was motivation for me to get them done. 

Of those 9, I got 6½ done yesterday, which is great. The rest I can get done this morning. Writing the list down set my mind at ease, letting my subconscious work on something else without wasting energy trying to remember those nine things!

I had a chat with HP yesterday, and my computer is now up to date, and I know how to periodically check that all updates are up to date! It doesn't happen automatically! Who knew that? I'm ready for my fourth session with Microsoft this morning. BTW -- I asked the HP support person where he was located - Mumbai, India! Very nice person and very helpful. 

A LOT of things happened yesterday. It was Monday Sewing, and while we chatted, I was busy working. 

I pulled some "easy" things out of the UFO blue bin to work on. The first one was to deal with the leftovers from the soccer quilt that you saw last week. The leftover strips from the mitered border were too large to be considered a scrap. So instead of putting a mitered border on that square of fabric in the center, I did the opposite. I made the mitered borders and then cut the center to fit! And I got a 27" square table topper from those leftovers. 

The soccer table topper from leftover border prints

And there was enough fabric to make the backing. I used a solid black for the binding, and this one is ready to be quilted. I want to get it quilted this week, so I can finish it and then find a home for the two quilts. 

Ready to be quilted

I have THREE projects like this that were put in the UFO blue bin. I'll give you a better idea of what I started with and what I did on this next one. I think I remember what quilt this border fabric came from. It's in the "to be quilted" pile and has been for years! Anyway, I had a piece of floral yardage (top left), the eight cut-off pieces from applying the mitered border, and a length of the border print. Not shown are some leftovers from the border print. 

What I started with

Wait -- I took a picture of the leftovers from the border print.

The leftover border prints bits

 And here's a better view of the yardage. 

The yardage

This is called reverse engineering because I laid out the fabric to see what I had and to determine what sizes everything needed to be cut or where it could be used. 

Visually designing a table runner

YES -- I could make a decent-sized table runner out of this. I started by assembling the two short end borders. And then I constructed the long borders. I ensured that the two short and the two long borders were the same length, but honestly, I didn't really have to trim anything. They were equal! Good planning. 

Ensuring the long borders are the same length

And I laid it on the floor. It looks AWESOME!!! The tricky part is cutting the center to match the borders. I'm still working on that formula. 

That is going to look amazing.

But the MINUTE that was on the floor after I cut the center to fit, guess who came downstairs and guess where she went. She immediately went to that table runner and STOPPED. 

MOM -- is this for me?

Then she lay down! 

MOM - it's a bit small!

I have to say that when I went downstairs this morning, I half expected her to be lying on it, but nope - she was on her mat under the table. Good girl Murphy!!! And see that mat is plenty big enough for us to have a good cuddle.

Mat - I needed the extra thickness of my mat last night

I didn't finish the table runner yesterday, so I'll work on it this morning. And there is ONE more similar project in the UFO box. I'm going to get that one done this week as well, and then I need to set aside the UFO box for a bit. What is nice is that these small projects that have cluttered up the table tops are finally being done! I'm super excited!!!!

Oh my—sometimes we need to keep quiet. Remember the lady I ran into in the grocery store? Well, I took pictures of the project I had started for her and sent them to her yesterday. She didn't even remember the project!!!! ACK -- I could have just repurposed everything, and no one would be the wiser. But the guilt would gnaw at me, so we're going to discuss on Friday what to do about it. 

I had this border done, but it needs stitching in bright colors to really stand out from the background. And I have a ton of photos transferred to fabric, as well as a hand-drawn diagram of the direction we were going. 

The borders for the quilt

But as I was looking in the box, I spotted this! Notice the date - 2002! We weren't even living in this house at the time! And we've lived here for 23 years!  

Keepsake Quilting catalogue

For anyone who remembers that catalogue, it was the equivalent of being 6 years old again, and getting the Sears Wish Book, or the Eaton's one. The Wish Book was published from the mid-50s to the mid-70s, although I think the regular Sears catalogue continued for a few more years. 

The Christmas Wish Book

I browsed the catalogue while eating lunch, and what a trip down memory lane!! Here are some highlights that I found interesting. It was BIG -- 126 pages!!!!

EQ4 was the computer design software of choice. It's still going strong today with EQ8 being the current version. 

EQ4 for $110. CDN

OH MY -- the bugs in a jar quilt. This was a very popular pattern, and novelty prints were all the rage. Some people filled the jars with fruit and veggie-themed fabrics. I don't think I ever made this pattern (I'm sure I have it), but I have boxes and boxes of all kinds of novelty prints that are used for I Spy quilts. 

Bugs in a jar quilt pattern

There were many fabric clubs you could subscribe to, and of course, in 2002, there were NO PRE-CUTS. GASP!!! How did people survive? Well, you could buy collections like this one of 10" squares. I think this one was curated to make the jar quilt above. I may or may not have purchased some of these. 

10" squares of novelty prints

There's the pattern for Rosewood Cottage. Oh my!!! I taught that as an ongoing class in 2008 at The Hobby Horse, and again in 2013 at Ruti's Needlebed. My quilt is in the "to be quilted" pile. What fun we had with that quilt. If you click the link above, you can see the final show-and-tell. I don't have anything on the blog for the 2008 version. I was just starting to write my blog that year. 

Rosewood Cottage

And the final picture I'll share is Moonglow by Jinny Beyer. I made this quilt, and it is quilted and bound, though I'd like to add more quilting with metallic thread. WAIT --- this would be the perfect thing to do with the embroidery machine!!! Lightbulb moment!!!! This pattern was released again, but I'm not sure of the year. 

Moonglow pattern

I remember sitting in the Hobby Horse, and Gail was contemplating bringing in the pattern. So I quietly said, "I can make the sample." I had no clue what I was doing, but I LOVE the quilt. It was challenging, but the quilt is beautiful!! I don't seem to have any pictures of it on the blog either. 

WOW WOW WOW --- what a trip down memory lane. The catalogue is now in the recycling bin, except for the one page I wanted for that customer project - it was an idea for a family tree. Funny, how we keep the entire catalogue for one picture. 

WAIT --- I did this last night as well. 

Machine embroidery on tulle

I'm still designing the central feature for the bridal veil, but she also wanted Zodiac constellations on it. I managed to find those on Etsy, and they turned out pretty darn good. That is stitched on bridal tulle. Cutting away the excess water-soluble stabilizer was a challenge, and I managed to NOT cut the tulle. It's going to be on a plane tomorrow, so she can evaluate it. 

The only thing that needs to be changed, if possible, is that it's a bit scratchy on the back, which could be because it was quickly rinsed rather than fully washed. I will have to make another sample, or I could wash this more thoroughly today and let it dry. But amazing that you can stitch on see-through tulle and it's pretty strong. 

It was a jam-packed day, and I'm making progress in many areas. I will have to settle down later this week and start getting back to focusing on one or two things, not flitting around as I did yesterday. Some of the things done yesterday were just to see if we would go ahead with the project. If the answer is yes, then it needs to be scheduled in. 

My knee did just fine at spin class. Being clipped into the pedals helps keep the knee straight, and as long as it stays straight, it's happy. Try to twist it even one tiny bit, and it's not happy! So I'm extremely careful. It was fine all day, but it bothered me quite a bit last night, so I'm not sure what's going on. Slow and careful -- that's my motto. I only cycled for 30 minutes, with little pressure - I can crank out the equivalent of 30 KM in 60 minutes. Yesterday, I cycled 12 km in 30 minutes, so you can see I'm being responsible. I need to keep the knee moving. 

I'm running out of time, so I'll have to share another story about the knee tomorrow. 

Have a superb day!!!

Ciao!!!