Decluttering 101

 Happy New Year!! 

It will be another great year of decluttering, sewing, decluttering, sewing, maintaining our new uncluttered spaces, then sewing, sewing, sewing!

I want to outline a few guidelines because this decluttering business is hard work. Not only is it a physical job, but the emotional side is going to be challenging, and you need to be prepared. This can work for your house, in general, or your sewing space specifically. 

1. You will likely feel overwhelmed, ashamed, embarrassed, or all three as you go through your sewing room. That's OK. You can cry and leave the cluttered space as it is, or you can rise above those emotions and say, "I WILL do it." It's going to be essential to get over those feelings. The past is the past, and there's NOTHING you can do about the money you spent on projects or fabric that you'll likely never use. Just move on!
2. This is going to take a LONG time to fix. Depending on how long you've been sewing and how diligent you've been about putting things away, the time frame could be prolonged for someone (like me) or shorter if you've been on top of things. 
3. EVERYTHING needs a home. Clutter results from things not having a home, so you must find a home for EVERYTHING as you declutter. Here are several reasons why items don't have a home -- you don't have space, you don't know what to do with it, you just haven't put it away. 
4. Put LIKE things together. I'm of the mindset that as you are cleaning and tidying and if you want quick results, put the like items together. Then, when all the things are together, it will be easier to cull through them and see if you have duplicates or don't want or need them. That may require some boxes -- you decide. 
5. Clean up any visible garbage or empty dishes. That's easy!
6. Do NOT purchase new containers. This is not a good idea until you know what you need, what will go in them, and where they will be stored. If you have laundry baskets, they work great for keeping the like things until you can deal with them. I have a few extra should anyone need one or two. 
7. Be ruthless. I'm a Virgo, with some OCD tendencies -- but only when I'm in the mood! You have to set your tolerance level. How clean do you want those surfaces to be? I'm going for the bare minimum, but that's after years of high hoarding levels. 
8. STOP buying things unless you need them. I know -- all the gadgets are enticing, but what does one do with them when they get them home? I now think long and hard about every purchase, and I've stopped myself cold from buying something by visualizing where it's going to go in my studio. And just because your friend has one or it's the hottest gadget on the market does NOT mean it's necessary. 
9. Find a friend to help. Sometimes this is helpful as your friend has no emotional attachment to your stuff. It would be easy for them to ask the question, "do you really need/want that?" If you don't have a friend who you want to help, then send me a picture -- I'd be happy to be your friend!
10. Keep your eye on the prize! Yes -- keep plodding away. This is NOT going to be a quick fix. I've been at it for 6 years now and am still not done -- getting closer, but not done. That will depend on your level of tolerance, but imagine walking into your sewing space and feeling free of the weight of those projects or mess. Having clean areas to work in is a blessing, and you'll be happier and way more productive. IT'S MIND-BOGGLING when I think of the HOURS that I've spent cleaning up. 
11. A bigger sewing room is NOT the solution, and it just results in a bigger mess. But having a dedicated space just for you is well worth it. If you can wrangle that -- I'd go for it. Kids moved out? Move their stuff into another room or get rid of it. 

Those are the basic rules for our decluttering process. You will get distracted, and that's OK. This is meant to be fun (ish), and well, we're going to get distracted. I've found myself wanting to get to work on a UFO or two that I found, but I resisted. That is what lists are for, and we'll talk about lists another day. 

Task number one is to clean up the space around your sewing machine. Now here's the thing, and you MUST keep this in mind. We each have our own sewing space, and some are large, and some are small. Did you know that Paula Nadelstern sewed in her tiny New York City apartment at the kitchen table for years? When her son moved out, she took over his bedroom. If you have the luxury of a larger space, that's a bonus but NOT a necessity. 

I don't really have a "before" picture because I try to keep the area around my sewing machine neat and tidy at ALL times. Yes -- if I'm sewing something, there might be a few extra things around, but I tend to tidy up afterward - ALWAYS. 

Here's my sewing machine, with the extension table and my three critical sewing tools. I know that some people use those skirts for their sewing machine, and sometimes I have mine there. But I find it gets in the way; the tools don't sit properly, so why bother? I also know that people keep pins, clips, paper, pen, and other stuff around the sewing machine. Do you use them regularly? If your room is small, the sewing machine skirt might come in handy to keep things neat. 

Sewing machine with extension table

You have to find what works for you, but look at the sewing space and ask yourself if you absolutely need everything around the machine and how often you use it. Is that the best place for those tools? 

I also moved my machine over as far as possible on that banquet table. Yep -- I sew with that giant machine on a $50 banquet table. I've sewn on that kind of table for 20 years, and it works for me. I love the flexibility I have with that table. In a pinch, I can shove the machine back and use the front of the table to pin a border on a quilt. 

And right now, the laptop also sits in that same space because I'm hooked to those darn baking shows. 

Sewing on a banquet table

To the right of the sewing machine is a cutlery tray filled with bits for my enders and leaders. Extra sewing tools and my reading glasses should I need them. There's another tray with fabric bits beneath that one. Technically, I should combine them. Maybe, I'll do that today. Why have two when only one is needed? I also keep some pins in that container for the rare occasion I use them. 

And behind that, in that plastic container, are the bits for my sewing machine. All the feet and a few extra tools. It's a travel box when I travel with this machine. Hmmm -- I think I could consolidate some of that stuff into a smaller container. And put those travel tools with the rest of the extras as I don't use them daily. It's all about reducing what's visible in the sewing space. OK --- I thought I was done with this area, but I have work to do today!

Stuff to the right of the sewing machine

The five bobbins that I wind when I've cleaned the machine sit beneath the second spool of thread on the sewing machine. I must say that I LOVE that telescopic thread stand. 

Hiding place for the five bobbins

I don't often use black thread, but the cone sits on the sewing machine and covers up the bobbins. 

Two spools of thread on the thread stand

I know that the fabric thread catchers with pins are cute, but I use a metal tin. One flick into the garbage and the entire container is clean, and it's easy to move around if I need to. 

My thread catcher

I know that a couple of people have already sent me pictures, and I'll post them tomorrow along with my own revised photos. If you have before and after views of your sewing machine area, forward them along -- I'd love to see what tidying you did. 

Here's what else happened yesterday. I got the final customer quilt for 2021 done. 

Customer quilt - DONE

 

My barn block for the Barn Quilt sew-along at Thimbles and Things is DONE, and I just need to send in a picture to get my points. 

Barn block

The last block for the Kimberbell Candy Cane Lane bench pillow is done. 

Machine embroidery block for Candy Cane Lane

All the other blocks are trimmed and ready to sew together. A job for later today, perhaps. 

The rest of the blocks for Candy Cane Lane

And that's a wrap for today. Lots more happened yesterday, but I've run out of time, so that'll be for another day. 

Now get to work and look at your sewing table. OH -- it's OK if you create a box of things that you need to deal with later - just get that sewing table clear! I have a laundry basket sitting there, and you'll see what I mean tomorrow. 

Hopefully, it won't' take you too long to clean up that sewing table space. I have another task tomorrow  -- or perhaps, I'll post a new assignment every second day, so you have a chance to deal with the stuff that's there. That might be a better idea because no one wants to get behind. We'll look at the before and afters tomorrow and then onto assignment number two. 

I didn't talk about resolutions because I don't think they work. More on that tomorrow. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Shiny and bright

Some days you have a lot to show for what you did and some days you don't. While I'm getting work done, those worktables do not appear to be getting cleaned off in any way. I'm OK with that. I know it's going to take time and I'm working on one thing at a time. Focus! That's what I keep telling Murphy when we go for a walk. Focus!

No tidying needed to be done yesterday as things are looking good on the sewing station tables. I completely forgot about the cutting table. I fired up the embroidery machine. Actually, that happened on Sunday!

I started out by hooping a stitch and tear stabilizer.

Starting to embroidery on a stabilizer

 Then I added sone very BRIGHT and SHINY stretchy fabric. I had to very carefully babysit this design, mostly because it was very stretchy and slippery fabric. But after staring at that bright fabric in the brilliant lights of the Designer EPIC 2, I was seeing stars whenever I took my eyes off the fabric. Yikes - that was hard. How does anyone sew with this stuff all day?

Adding bright and shiny fabric

And slowly from that bright shiny fabric, a GECKO was born.

A gecko is being born

 Someone gave me some Quilter's Dream batting that she no longer wanted and when I asked what she wanted in return, she asked for a gecko. OK - I can do that. The color request was blue and green. I've got lots of green and scraps of blue. So this is what we got.

I was going to stuff it on Monday but forgot to take the stuffing tools that I had found so I just got him cut out and now he's ready to stuff.

The gecko is cut out and ready to stuff

Here's a better picture of the gecko. He sort of gets lost in the fabric in that photo above. I just realized that while I unpacked my bag from Monday sewing, I hadn't processed anything in the bag. It's still all over half of the cutting table. Oopsy - a job for later today.

The gecko 

I know this gecko is going to be loved and he's going to get a name. I wonder what they'll call him?

No - I didn't have time to clean up the stuff on the cutting table because I was busy. I started the day off by getting one more block done for the paper-pieced mini quilt. This is a birdhouse made of three sections. They are not trimmed and therefore not sewn together. That doesn't matter - progress is being made. Two more blocks (four more sections) to go.

One more paper-pieced block

Then it was onto quilting. That little orange board with the list of quilts was saying, "you have a job to do TODAY or you'll get behind".

That meant that I had to get the top together for the Dresden Plate quilt. The top got sewn together and I did NOT rearrange any of the blocks. I left them as they were. I had originally placed them because of the light and dark of the background and that's how they stayed.

I had to make the backing fabric and I was careful with how much I took off that big hunk of fabric. That was one thing that I used off the table. But it wasn't taking much room.

I found three pieces of batting that I could join to get the size needed for this quilt and then all three pieces got loaded on the long arm and I was away. Except that I wanted this quilt custom quilted so it took a long time.

With the rainy day outside and no chance to take a walk, it seemed to take forever and I was tempted at one point to finish it today. However, there's another quilt on the list for today so I persevered.

The quilting in the background

As I got started in the background, I thought I should have used a slightly lighter color thread, but that's OK.

No robot quilting this time - it was all me

I don't think I should leave it so long for the next freehand quilting job. I felt a bit rusty! That's not good. But I soon warmed up and I was good to go.

I wasn't sure that I was going to like what I had done, but once I got going, I was happy! And when I took it off the long arm - I was ecstatic with how it turned out. I was even tempted to NOT give it back to my Mom. But I'll make sure I get it back when she doesn't "need" it any longer.

Dresden Plate quilt

Some of those fabrics are pretty old. For the life of me, I can't remember who she said made the darn thing. I'm pretty sure it wasn't her. My grandmother??? 

Anyway - I'll get all the info next week. I dare not ask her on the phone as I want it to be a surprise. I think for freehand, I did a pretty good job on all those curves. Like I said, once I got going, I was good and had fun as well. I think I'm going to wash the quilt before I give it to her. It'll soften up that dense quilting in the background and make it look more vintage. It's not stiff, but the washing will soften it a lot.

Quilting on the Dresden Plate quilt

I also had time to trim the quilt last night and guess what? There should be enough of the backing leftovers to make the binding. I cut the backing about three inches larger on the sides and some extra along the bottom edge. Loads to make the binding. That's a job for later today.

The backing leftovers

And that will be one project done for next week. I have three more that I would like to get done. I'm working on them and I don't see why I can't get them done. Two need to be finished, one is OK if it's a work in progress. You'll see what I mean when I get there.

So here's a blog that I want you to follow and I want you to share with ALL your friends. It's for the NEW OUTDOOR quilt show at Black Creek Pioneer Village called Quilts in the Village. Just go to the bottom of that first post and HIT the FOLLOW button. Then whenever a new post is posted, you'll get a notification. Yes - I'm helping them out with some publicity. For now - follow the blog and the rest of the information is coming. Registration for putting a quilt in the show is coming next month. Get involved!!!!

And here's an interesting article on sewing machine maintenance. Take a look at the pictures of the needles in the article. HOLY -- that's why you need to change your needle regularly. Thre are some other good tips as well. BUT DO NOT touch the tension on the bobbin case unless you know what you're doing!!! I'll have more comments about this article tomorrow. I don't have time this morning. It's spin class day and the blog gets written before the class.

The rain finally stopped and we managed to get out for our second walk just after dinner. The girls were so happy. They didn't understand why we couldn't go out in the pouring rain. Silly girls!!!

On that note, it's time to get moving.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Casually custom

I found a very interesting article yesterday that I'll share with you hopefully tomorrow.  It relates to what I posted yesterday. 

Even though I seem to be burning the candle at both ends, I'm loving every minute.  I still have customer quilts to get quilted. The key is how to get things done in a reasonable time frame. 

I'm down to quilts for only TWO customers.  Although there are more than two quilts!  There are some tasks about quilting that I'm not fond of and I procrastinate about them. Putting bindings on for instance - hated it. Now with my nearly perfected machine applied binding, I'm happy as a clam. None of these quilts are technically for me, so I'm Ok with that. 

Custom quilting used to be a chore as well.  Everything needs to be precise, lined up and super pretty. Custom quilting used to scare me. Well the more I do, (like everything), the more I'm happy with the results. Remember - 10,000 hours in order to be a master of a technique.  And for the record (and since I love numbers), 10,000 is the equivalent of 416.67 days.  Not EIGHT hour days, but TWENTY FOUR hour days. If we look at the 10,000 hours in view of a 40 hour week, that is 250 weeks.  Or FIVE years of full-time concentrated effort to become a master of something. Just saying.......

So back to the custom quilting - I had this great modern quilt to do for a customer.  I wanted it to be nicely quilted, but also not spend hours and hours on it.  The customer picked it up last night and I'm happy to say that I'm really happy with the results. Why???  

Customer quilt - DONE

Detail of quilting

My new motto is work SMARTER, not harder.  So instead of measuring all those lines with a ruler, I did, in fact, use a ruler to get the straight edge, but I did NOT measure. I free handed the entire quilt.  And I LOVED doing it.  I think it turned out just great and I've now coined the term - casual custom which is going to become my new best friend.


Once that quilt got done, I had to do some cleanup.  I cleaned out my purse which was a disaster and I found the last charm for my Missouri Star Charm collection.  Now all I need is to replace the flower shop pin for the charm!

Collection of Missouri Star charms

With all the cutting and trimming, my scrap basket was overflowing. Time to get some pet mats together. I don't even know if I should continue with them, but hopefully, once winter comes, the kitties will appreciate them.  If anyone knows of a feral cat project - let me know.  I'm not even close to touching what's under the long - arm, these scraps are just from my own cutting.

Overflowing scrap basket

Which is now empty

I made one new cover for a cat bed and sewed three others closed that had been sitting around for a while.

New cat beds

The studio is somewhat clean. Oh, who am I kidding. It's not even close!  When Heather, Jane, and Helen Anne were over on the weekend, I did NOTHING to clean up - no time. I'm sure they all went home with a greater appreciation for what a huge mess I've gotten myself into!

I washed the backing (flannel) for the next quilt (which is MINE!).  Hopefully, I'll finish the top tonight and get it all loaded on the long arm. If I'm lucky, I might even get to quilt it tonight. That would be the icing on the cake if that happened.

There are a few more URGENT quilts to make before next week, it's going to be crazy, but by the 15th - it'll all be over. The rush will be done!  DH says UNTIL you pick up the next contract. Well after the 15th, there are still TWO more quilts for contracts, but they are spread out and the ONLY ones that are due.  Can't wait!!!!

On that note, it's time to get some work done.

Have a super day!

Ciao!

Back to work!

In all aspects - it was back to work.   Back to the gym - I had also missed the gym for a few days prior to going to the retreat and I was starting to feel like a slug. Then it rained for a good part of our retreat which was good for sewing, not so good for taking a walk outside.  So yes - I needed to get back to the gym and it felt good! Nothing beats a good work out and then sitting in the steam room.

Then off to Monday Mania group. It was funny as we left the retreat - some of us won't see each other for the next six months until the next retreat and others - it was "see you tomorrow!"  Which was good because then you didn't have tons of questions about the retreat - because some of them were there.  I did more cutting - not that I need to prep any more projects, but this one has been sitting around for a long time waiting to be cut.  Time to get er done!!!!

And I have to say that I was excited to get to work!  I know - that is just wild. And as much as I wanted to sew all day - that didn't happen.  A meeting for a couple of hours in the morning and then e-mail and paperwork in the afternoon and the next thing I knew - the day was gone. And at last the two patterns that I had been editing are now done!  Well almost - there is ONE line on each to be added and then they can be uploaded. Wow - that was a task!

Today however I hope to get some sewing done. Although I do have a lot of action items from the meeting. I also started going through my box of stuff from Market as that has to be done and I need to do some follow up e-mails.

At last back home.  I left the office at 5:30 PM and was home by 6:05 PM - no stress - no stopping and starting - no bumper to bumper.   Oh yes - the 407 costs money, but it is so worth every penny. I think I have at last worked out the most time efficient route that also doesn't cost a crazy amount of money per day. Works for me!

I did manage to get everything unpacked - at least unpacked from the car.  There was tons of stuff hanging out in the car from the summer and I just crammed the retreat stuff on top.  Sadly there was a casuality. This is my favourite umbrella. I've had this umbrella for years - I mean years - I bought it when I lived in Montreal which was over 25 years ago. I loved the wooden handle and the cord so you could sling it over your shoulder instead of carrying it.  I took the bus and subway many times in Montreal and never lost it - obviously!!!

My favourite umbrella

However I don't think it was closed properly and something heavy sat on it and one of the metal pieces broke. But it was getting tired anyway.  It sure doesn't owe me a thing. So sadly it goes in the garbage today.

Broken umbrella

I am NOT a good consumer.  I keep things forever - well I don't just toss things because the color is out of style (it's an umbrella after all) or because I get tired of it. I keep things until they are worn out. OK - not everything. But you know what I mean. Well I hope you do!  But I am still in my pitching and purging mood - just not a lot of time - so have to keep that energy going because once and for all - I want ALL this mess gone away. Except the studio of course - that is sacred territory and NOTHING gets thrown away - yet. Once the house is dealt with - then perhaps I will still have some energy to cope with the sewing stuff.

While I managed to get everything into the house from the car, it sat in the hallway.  However I did also manage to take one bag at a time to the studio and more or less unloaded it and tried to put it away.

The car is emptied - the hallway is full

 Now some of that stuff is NOT from the car - just the stuff to the end of those double doors. The rest is the stuff to be donated which is still siting in the hall.   Now I have THREE bags of stuff to carry back and forth to work until those projects get done!!!!!!

The shear volume of stuff is my biggest problem.  If I could only put everything away and only focus on ONE thing - my head would be clear, my work space would be clear and I could actually get something done - the same way I do when I am at a retreat. The problem is all these deadlines - this needs to be prepped for a class, this needs to be done for a customer!   I am way better than I ever was, but still a long way to go.  I'm working on it.

The good news is that I finished the checkerboard border on this customer quilt.   I love the way it looks. Now I have one more border and then it is ready for quilting.  I am not sure what to put.  I thought an eight pointed star (on point), but the blocks are going to be too small - way too much work and I don't think it will add anything. I am tending towards a piano key border.  Nancy and I discussed it this summer in PEI and we had it all worked out but did I write down that last border idea????   Nope - but I am certain we talked about piano key.  So it is off to EQ7 to reconfigure this quilt to see what I can come up with.

Border done on customer quilt

Ronda - you will be happy to know that I have now surpassed the 100 page mark in my book!!!   However I am certain that I have read this book - but I can't remember how it ends so I will keep reading!

On that note - I am out of here.  Got to get ready for work!

Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ciao!!!!

Thank god the weekend is over!!

Now I bet that is a first!   Actually - I did accomplish tons on the weekend and still had lots of time to veg out and read my book, walk to the library with Little Sammy and basically enjoy the beautiful weather. Would have liked to spend a bit more time outside, but well - a deadline is a deadline!!!!  And not like I can waffle on this one because this quilt has to be on a plane in a week!!!!!!

I had several photos that the owner wanted on the quilt.  I printed out the first sheet and thought they were OK, but when I printed the second sheet - I knew there was a problem.  Look at the pictures below.  See the one on the right - it is very orangey - not enough blue.  I knew the blue ink cartridge was low, but thought I could squeeze a couple of pictures out - no go.  I had to reprint them all. 

The left one is much bluer than the right one - the left one is the keeper

In the other set of photos - there was a lot of dark so you think you are good.  Nope - look at the sleeve of the jacket holding the torch.  Yes - the right one is much bluer.  I had no choice but to reprint it.

The one on the left is bad - the one on the right is good

Yep - a big difference if one of the ink cartridges isn't full enough to print properly!


Once the photos were printed, I let them sit for a bit to dry.

Then they got dunked in the sink to wash any of the excess ink off.

Washing the photos in the sink

As you can see - there is no real change in the color of the water meaning there is very little excess ink. That is good.


Then they got hung up on the drying rack outside to dry.  I knew by the time I was ready for the pictures that they would be dry. It was a breezy warm day.

Pictures drying on the rack

And I was back to piecing.  Once all the shirts were interfaced and sort of cut - I put them all on the wall and then - switch a roo - I changed some of them around so the colors would be a bit more balanced.  That is one reason why it is better to cut the shirts BIGGER than they need to be - so you can play with them.

Everything interfaced and ready to sew together

Cut, trim, sew, press - for some reason - I couldn't get my measurements right.  I have no idea why - I had an entire page covered with measurements and still some rows ended up being too long and had to be ripped out to trim something off.  BUT - that is way better than finding the rows were too short.  That would NOT have been a good thing.

And at last - the top is DONE!!!!!!   A nice size - well my lap size - 60" by 72".  

As I was working on this quilt on Sunday morning, I had a bit of a panic attack.  I hadn't thought of the backing.  Oh crap - what am I going to use??????  Stores are closed!!! Then I remembered that I had just bought backing for another quilt - a nice maple leaf and thought - that is perfect!!!!!   Now I have to replace that other backing, but no worries.  There is a reason that one makes all their quilts the same size!!!!

The top and the backing are DONE!!!!!!

Got the quilt loaded on the long arm, choose the thread and a pattern and I was working up a storm. I tossed my fleece jacket off as I was a tad warm and look who confiscated it!!!!!

Little Sammy resting on my jacket

The best part of quilting a quilt is....................

Seeing the end of the quilt come off the roller

The top was quilted and off the long arm by dinner time!!!!!!!   Yeah - I was very happy about that.  It is now trimmed and needs the binding put on so I can do the hand stitching this week for a Saturday delivery.  Oh yes - I'm going to make it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Customer quilt - DONE

I am very pleased with the way it turned out.  I think the customer will be very happy as well.


On that note - I am off to put on bindings today, edit pictures, and figure out Row by Row.  Oh yes - a fun day!!!!!


Have an awesome day!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Killing two birds with one stone.......................

People send me links to all things biking!  Thank goodness they don't send quilting links - I would never get through them all.  A while back, Elaine S had alerted me to a new art installation in Brampton that was bike related.  It was a busy summer and I did not have time to check it out.

Here is a link to the article.

The other night I was on my way up Highway 10 right through downtown Brampton - I had a few extra minutes and I thought about the exhibit. I didn't know where it was exactly, but my gut instinct told me that I was driving right past it.  I drove around the block, parked the car and VOILA - there was the exhibit!!!!   That was petty freaky that my subconscious kicked in moments before I arrived at the spot.

The murals are on the side of a building - guess what is in the building???


A bike shop!!!!!!

Cyclepath Bike Shop

The murals are in a beautiful pedestrian mall that is filled with benches and tables and umbrellas. The tables have chess/checkerboard boards on the surface so you could easily sit down and play a game with a friend or passerby.  I think you have to supply your own pieces.  But what a neat idea.

Murals with tables in front of them

Big open space - loads of room to sit and enjoy the art work on both sides of the space

Bike mural

Bike mural

Bike Mural

Bike Mural

The bikes have some sort of reflective material on them so they are supposed to shine at night as special lighting is installed or will be installed to highlight the images.  I guess I will have to go back to see that!!!!!
If I was thinking - I would have stopped on my way home since I drove right past that same spot!!!!

Reflective material on the bikes

 They were created by Norbert Augustine - a longtime Brampton artist.   If you get a chance - you should check them out.  If nothing else - read the article!!!!   It is nice to see some of the artwork around our cities.

Well - it is a LONG weekend.   This is a special one as it is my FIRST real long weekend in a LONG LONG time.   When you don't have a 9-5 job - long weekends just come and go. But now that I am working - well I really appreciate the day off - even though I will be quilting all day!!!!


Despite the fact that I spent MOST of yesterday visiting with friends and make new contacts and generally had a really slack day - I still managed to get two quilts done. I can only show you one - I might incriminate myself if I show you the other one.  Nothing bad - I'll show you later.

Customer quilt - DONE

The back of the customer quilt - very creative!!!!

As I was trimming up the two quilts, I noticed that my cutting mat is getting a bit shoddy looking.  Yep - those white spots are wear spots.  And YES - I usually use my cutting mats with the lines hidden because I hate when people feel the urge to line up their fabric along those lines.  So I think during  a sit n sew I flipped it over and never turned it back right side up.

Cutting mat in bad shape

Big wear spots

I did flip it over and while that side with the lines is also worn, it is better than this side.  I could always rotate the wrong side and use that.  Hey - those cutting mats are expensive.  I have had this mat forever.  There is still life in that darn thing!!!!


Thanks to Liz - I am now a

LOONY QUILTER!!!!!

 Thanks Liz!!!!!    Yes - I must get myself organized with those license plates - I still owe people plates, other people owe me plates and I can't really trade with everyone until I get in what is owed to me.  ACK.   So if you have plates for me - please let me know what they are. Laurraine - I know the three you have for me. Shelly - what do you have for me?????    Oh and Joyce - what do you have for me????

Then I have a package for Connie that is ready for the post - sorry it took me so long and I have lost your e-mail. I have Barbara, Liz and one more person (besides Carol) that I must get their plates organized.  So bear with me.

Well - I was busy and guess what - I am ALMOST done that last rainbow top.   The rows are all together - the bottom four rows are in one piece  - just have to put the top three rows together and then sew the two halves together and it will be done!!!!   I have decided that this is going to be a wall hanging - it is going to have my strippy batik for the backing - oh - I may have something else for the backing.

Rabow quilt number FOUR

Repaired that hole with a small piece of fabric and steam a seam 

My green blocks are on the wall - first pass - they need to be rearranged. 

 So besides dealing with these quilts and it seems as fast as I can get one off the wall - a new one replaces it.  As soon as that rainbow one is done - I have another half completed top to put up there.  Oh yes - loony quilter - indeed.  However I really think I am getting way more done NOW than when I didn't work.

I have a lot of quilting to do today and would love to get the cutting mat cleared off.  Wish me luck!!!!

The cutting mat to be cleared!!!!

On that note - I'm out of here to load another quilt on the long arm.


Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!