back to my beloved sewing machine!

 

Life has been utterly crazy for months now and has kept me totally sidetracked!  I haven’t been able to get anywhere near my sewing room for some time.  It’s a good thing to have lots to do but I missed my sewing room so much! 

But this week, I finally found my way back to the sewing machine. 

and Oh! it felt so good!!

It all started with making Halloween costumes for my grandkids. I sewed an Ariel costume, from The Little Mermaid; and Dorothy, Scarecrow and Lion costumes from Wizard of Oz.  It’s fun making the little ones happy.

 

Then thanks to my newest grandson I began a new quilt. Our adorable little baby just absolutely needed a quilt from his grandparents

And poking around in my sewing room (getting reacquainted) I came upon this quilt that was started some years ago. Along with it, was some fabric pieces I picked up along the way to finish it but then never did. The spark hit me and and now its all together and it didn’t take very long. I’m thinking I might donate this one.

All this in the past week…it was great!!

I’m crossing my fingers that life calms down now for a while…till Christmas at least.  Oh my…that’s coming up fast isn’t it? 

busy… busy

Been keeping busy…I just love sights like this one …a sure sign of work getting done.

 

Turning all those tiny 1” scraps into this. 

It’s going quicker than I thought.

 

It does help to be listening to this while I work …such a good book!!

Can’t seem to put it down or the sewing  ☺

…long time, no see…

Wow, what a crazy, busy summer this has been!  I was thinking my blogging days were over.  And no time for quilting either.  With that, I lost some of my motivation on projects I was working on this year…

…even though I was loving them …go figure! 

 

So I dug through my drawers and bins looking for something to inspire me, and found these butterflies I started some time ago for Lori’s row-along.  Hmmm…I don’t think I will finish it anytime soon…

 

… but I really loved those butterflies, so I just cut up the fabrics I was saving for the other rows and turned them into butterfly pieces.   

 

And it will just be a butterfly quilt instead.  Nice and relaxing and so pretty to work on.

 

I also pulled out a box that keeps my tiniest of scraps.  They are all trimmed to just 1” wide!  Seemingly way too small to do anything with but oh, just too nice to toss!  I sorted and organized them into this divider and I was all of a sudden happily sewing away and having fun.

The colored squares finish at 1/2 inch so it will be interesting to see how big this quilt gets before I decide I’ve had enough….mini quilt?… topper?… do you think I could make it to a lap size quilt?  …bigger?

It might take the rest of my life…

It doesn’t matter…because I think I’ve got my quilting motivation back.

and I’m glad to be back to the awesome world of blogging.

Some big numbers

Whew!!  I finished all 194 of these “eye” things… at last!

Now to join them to the centers.

 

I finally got used to sewing curves but now….all those intersections…they make me nervous.  These are my first ones…thanks to my trusty seam ripper and a few tries they aren’t too bad.

Hopefully it will get better and easier and quicker by the time I sew 168 more intersections!  Yikes!

 

Then this morning I finished two more applique blocks. A lot more relaxing project.

 

This means I only have 18 left to go

…and then 41 pieced blocks.

Math is not my thing but I can count down quilt blocks.  LOL

 

A few days ago this pretty package arrived at my house and inside was…

 

Lots of fun!!

Thank you so much Nancy!  That was really sweet of you.

Nancy has a great blog called Tattered Garden Quilting.  You should go visit her.  She does beautiful applique and is very inspiring. 

I spy some fun for a little one

I had some help in my sewing room yesterday.  My sweet granddaughter loved playing with the I-Spy fabrics while I sewed.  It’s like looking through a story book…but she made up her own stories.

 

I think they’re fun to look at too!

 

…and this morning I finished putting them all together. It was a quick project, which I really needed after working on two pretty involved quilts for most of this year (with a long ways to go yet on both of them).

This crib sized I-Spy quilt was fun and easy.  I used this ingenious idea over here at Obsessively Stitching.  

 

 

A couple of years ago I made these two I-Spy quilts for my grandkids. 

With so many cute kiddie fabrics out there, I’m kinda sure there are more I-Spy quilts in my future.

plugging along

Slow and steady will win this race to complete a Double Wedding Ring.  My hopes are to have it together by August.  There still isn’t a lot of free time available for me right now but a minute or two here and a minute or two there and I’m making progress anyway.  Pretty sure I can reach my goal.  I need 97 “eyes”, I have 67 done and the rest at various stages of completion. 

See my cute little speaker in the background?  It’s a gift from Mr. Sunshine so I can listen to audio books while I sew. 

Right now I’m reading ‘The River of Doubt’ by Candice Millard.  It’s a true story about Theodore Roosevelt’s journey to the Amazon River. 

I read ‘Destiny of the Republic’ (Pres. James A. Garfield) earlier and enjoyed it so much that I’m trying another one of her books.  I am on chapter 7 and really liking it.

little projects

This week I made myself a new Sunday bag.  I kind of made this up as I went along so that it would fit my tablet perfectly.  It dresses it up for Sunday best since I keep my scriptures and lesson manuals on my tablet.  Nice and handy.

And the wall quilt for my grandkid’s play area is finished and on the wall.  This corner of our house is in the basement so the light isn’t great for picture taking.  But it really is a bright and cheerful addition to the family room. 

My latest read is “Remembering Isaac” by Ben Behunin.  Mr. Sunshine and I met the author one day a few months ago and when I invited him to speak at our book club, he came!  …and everyone loved him!  He has written several books.  This one is about a young man named Jake, who is a village potter finding his place in a small Pennsylvania community with a long history of pottery.  The author is a potter too and I see him in this book.  I am almost half way through and really enjoying it!

a couple of good days

Hope everyone enjoyed their Easter as much as we did.  Ours was spent with our kids and grandkids and was such a fun day.

Then the day after, I was finally able to sit down at my sewing machine again.  It’s been a couple of weeks.  I made some progress on my grandmother’s double wedding ring.  I’m halfway done with the “eyes” now …about 40 left to go …give or take a few.

And I finished a Sprig block this evening and that makes 19.

…it was another good day.

 

 

Tonight I’ll be taking a new book to bed with me.  It’s Murphy’s Law by Rhys Bowen …about a young woman, Molly, who’s running away from a murder she committed in Ireland and heading to America where another murder mystery awaits her.  I think its early 1900’s times. 

I’ve only just skimmed through a few pages but it looks pretty good.

Sew on the go

Haven’t had much chance at my machine lately… it seems like I’ve been running around like a crazy person the past few weeks… but I can always find a minute or two to applique.  I’m really grateful for a portable project. 

I pinned my sprigs on the design wall and like what I see so far.  It gets more exciting with each one finished.  Soon I’ll start the pieced blocks to put in between the sprigs. 

This is so fun!

Hopefully next week I’ll be back to sewing on my Grandmother’s Wedding ring again.  I’ve missed it.

what do you call these anyway?

 

Still working on the double wedding ring quilt.  While I sew, I’ve been calling these “eyes.”  That was the first thing that came to mind.  I also sometimes think “almonds.”  I know others have called them “footballs” or “melons.” 

What do you call them?

So far the sewing has been all good. I’m sure that scary challenge that I’ve been expecting is going to come along eventually. But not yet.

…I’ll be sure to let everyone know when it arrives. ☺

 

I also finished four more sprig blocks.  One more and I’ll be half way through the appliqued blocks for my Stars and Sprigs quilt top.  Yes!

The weird lighting and shadows in the photo are because it’s late …  just haven’t been ready to give up my day for sleep yet.

 

My latest read is God’s Smuggler.  I thought it would be like “Angel on Her Shoulder” by Kenneth L. Wilson, about a missionary woman in Taiwan.  I read that book many years ago and loved it and still think about it from time to time.  I was so touched by that woman’s sacrifices and her determination.  This one hasn’t made an impact on me that way but I am enjoying the story.

…I’ll be linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times….right here.

And then finally… off to bed.

Not as hard as I thought

So… I started sewing the “eyes” for my Double Wedding Ring quilt…those curves making me a tad nervous.   But I found out it isn’t so difficult as I imagined. 

Just pin carefully and sew carefully and ta-da!  They aren’t perfect, but by the time I finish 194 curves for the “eyes” plus 168 more curves for the centers…(whoa!!)  I should be better at it by then don’t you think?

So far the pieces are matching up so I’m not feeling exasperated and frustrated.  That’s what I worried about the most. 

Instead I’m having fun!

Two more sprig blocks are finished.

 

I’m in the middle of reading the book “Killing Lincoln” by Bill O’Reilly and having a hard time putting it down.  Learning things about our past that I never knew before.  History wasn’t my favorite class in school and I struggled through those text books…but lately I find myself enjoying a little bit of history.  Other good ones are “1776” by David McCullough, and “Destiny of the Republic” by Candice Millard.

Now I’m going over to link up with “Whatcha Reading Tuesday”.

some things finished…and starting another….

Woo..hoo!  I finally finished the arcs for my Double Wedding Ring quilt.  197 of them!  Then I realized I only need 194 arcs, but, oh well, better too many than not enough.  I’ve been working on them for a few months now so I am excited to have them done.

Next comes curved piecing….yikes!!

 

I also finished two more sprig appliques.  Always a pleasure to work on these.

 

This month our book club chose to read Mr. Churchill’s Secretary.  I’m only a few chapters into it, but so far it’s interesting.

And with that, I’m linking up to Judy’s “Whatcha Reading Tuesday” here.

Sprigs and eerie bones

Ten sprig blocks done….thirty to go…but I’ve only been working on them for a little over a month…at that rate it is possible to finish the quilt by year’s end…but…you know…we’ll see how that goes.

So far so good.  This is surely a nice way to spend our cold winter evenings…cuddled in a cushy chair in front of the fireplace and TV and stitching away.

Judy, at Patchwork Times, had a contest for a subject for her Tuesday link party.  Since I’m a reader, I mentioned sharing books.  Judy chose that idea and generously gave me a gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop.  I was so excited! and used it to get some awesome fabric for my Stars and Sprigs quilt.

Thank you so much Judy.  That was really nice of you and I appreciate it.

Speaking of which, the book I am reading right now is “Speaking from the Bones” by Alan Bradley.  I’ve waited a year for this book to come out. 

The star of the story is Flavia, a precocious 11 year old growing up in an old English mansion.  She’s a genius in chemistry, lives to solve murder mysteries and can be a little melodramatic. 

I have read every other book in the series and they are are so much fun!  Mr. Bradley is a gifted writer.  I could easily have finished this one by now but I ‘m trying to make it last, because the next book in the series isn’t due to be out till next year. 

Another whole year!!

I’m linking up with Judy for “Whatcha Reading Tuesday.”  Hoping for leads to more good books.

finished…oops! maybe not

Finally all finished with the top and wanted to get a quick picture before its off to be quilted and given away.  Not a good picture …there isn’t much light on this cold winter day.

Not until I looked at it here on the computer, did I finally notice that really obvious mistake!  Do you see it?  I never saw it before…even though I checked and rechecked as I worked on it. 

Wow! The tricks your eyes can play on you!

But it will be fixed before the day is out.

I also finished the book I was reading in my last post.  I enjoyed it till the last third of the book and then I hated it.  Just skim-read to the ending so I could call it done and in case it had a surprise good ending…but there wasn’t one.

But oh well, I started a new one already and I know I’m going to love it because I’m a fan of the series.  I’ll tell you more about it next “Whatcha Reading Tuesday.”

Almost finished

 

Every Tuesday morning you will find me hanging out with a group of ladies working together on humanitarian projects.  It’s one of the highlights of my week.  This morning I worked on this quilt to donate and I’m almost finished…just need to add the borders.  We have some expert quilters there who will finish it.  The pattern is from Scrap Basket Surprises by Kim Brackett.  And it’s been a great project.

And I’m also almost finished reading my latest book; Murder on Astor Place by Victoria Thompson.  It’s a mystery involving a midwife at the turn of the century.  Tonight before I fall asleep, I will finally know who did it and why.  As of now I have no idea! 

I’m linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times for more book ideas.

2013 here I come!

Wow, December was such a whirlwind for me.  Lots of Christmas fun, of course, but no time at all for the sewing machine and rarely even time for the computer.  I notice I didn’t blog once for a whole month. 

But now it’s over and I’m really eager to spend time with needle and thread.

Mostly because this is what I got for Christmas!!  From Mr. Sunshine…who knows just what I like. (& because he’s really good at picking up hints)

I have 2 tubs full of fabric that have been stashed away for a day when a project like this one came along.  So excited to use them now!

I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to finish those awesome borders but I’m going to try.  And I do have great plans for the main body of the quilt irregardless.

 

And I haven’t forgotten my Double Wedding Ring (well I did in December but now I’m back).  I am so close to being done with those arcs. 

 

These are my two main projects for 2013. 

…or at least until something else comes along…

that’s how it always seems to go, isn’t it?

Happy New Year!

2012… VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

…was a good year! VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I was surprised to see what I’d been able to finish this year.  What a fun year it has been…in my sewing life… and life in general.  I have much to be grateful for.

Here’s wishing all of us a very wonderful 2013!