150 Days in to 2013 -- Goal review time

For those of you that can't tell I am a list maker -- that's my motivation, crossing things off the list to put more things on the list. With the upcoming craft event it looks like several things are getting crossed off that list as the days dwindle down and that makes me one happy crafter. I'm always torn at this point in whether to limit my new projects and only add when I complete projects or start numerous projects and work on them as the mood strikes me --- which usually leaves me feeling under accomplished (but it does make the list longer). I want to work on decreasing my stash I do know that so that I have less guilt about buying new things when I go on a splurge. I am hoping that I will be able to attend the Quilt Expo in Raleigh again this year but I would like to go for at least 2 days this time instead on the one (I'm looking for a roommate if anyone is interested). On to the goals --- 

Goals Completed 

• Join a Quilting Guild --- Loving it. I have met some many wonderful people and it’s great to have a place that I feel I belong again. 
• Learned to Paper Piece – it’s awesome and I have completed a few projects so far with many, many more ideas for other ones.
• Scraps continue to maintain some organization but the ever growing number of them makes it a challenge, however I have been using them more and that makes me happy. 

Goals I’m doing WELL ON 

• Keeping up with the Blog --- several loyal readers and it provides me with an outlet to see that things are actually getting accomplished when sometimes all I feel I am doing is spinning my wheels. 
• I completed a class first qtr and there are plenty that I want to take on down the road so I am hoping my schedule cooperates and I am able to keep on track with this one. 
• Block of the Month project is going well and Block of the week project is coming along – currently 5 blocks behind. I admit I put BOW on hold while preparing for the upcoming craft fair but this is one of the first things I am going to catch up on in May.  
• Making things I see on Pinterest – at least using them for inspiration 
• Stretching myself with my FMQ 
• Making Charity quilts for the guild – I have set out to make 8 this year and so far have completed 5 with the fabric to make at least 3 more 
• Decreasing the number of UFO’s in my space – currently there are only 5 and many of those will be completed this week.

Goals I need to work harder on 

• Setting up at more craft shows – I have the Kerners Spring Folly coming up in May and Asheboro Fall festival in November but need to get a few more things lined up to meet my goal of 5 this year.
• Setting up as an exhibit – still no clue
• Working on the Craftsy BOM -- this will be one of those new projects starting in May and it also will go toward the guild charity quilts. 
• Conquering my fear of zippers – I have the triple zip pattern ready but haven’t tried it yet .
• Reorganization of the craft space for a better use of the space – this might involve selling some furniture, I'm very much considering selling the love seat and possibly the large dresser to be replaced with more practical pieces like bookcases or a taller table for pressing and cutting. 
• Making a quilt for my dad – thinking a scrappy trip along 

Projects in Progress

• 10 Teacup Pincushions -- not started (Friday)
• 10 Mug Rugs -- various states of completion most need binding a few need quilting and binding (Friday) 
• X marks the spot – needs binding (Friday)
• Elephant Parade -- needs quilting and binding (Friday)
• Designer star  -- needs binding (Friday)
• Storm At sea Table Runner -- needs binding (Friday)
• T-shirt quilt – Needs Quilting and binding (Friday ?)
• Storm at Sea -- needs backing, sandwiching, quilting and binding  
• Finish quilting Cityscape – complete quilting and bind 
• Smaller Koi Mix up -- needs sandwiching, quilting and binding
• Zakka project – due 5/28 – got the plans and the fabric, need to work on execution 

Last Weekend for April -- time is Running out

Had a wonderful time sewing with fellow Guild members Sunday at the sit and sew at Sew Original -- great way to spend a rainy Sunday.

Last week was a fun week for packages at the house -- I sent out my 80's projects , received my 80's project (Alex really outdid herself), got my interchangeable walking foot, got some fabrics in 2 traveling stash boxes and sent out my fat qtr to my swap partner through Facebook.

That is a Sew South Duffle Bag -- my guild mates that went to Sew South were very impressed at the workmanship and I love it because it holds about quilts and I will be taking it with me to set up at events. I had it all loaded for the sit and sew and it had (6 projects in it and all my supplies). 

Saturday I should have worked on getting some UFo's completed and ready for the display this weekend but instead I made a new project. I wanted to make a designer star from my buddy Lee's pattern but wasn't able to do the class last weekend so I went it alone and this lovely appeared on my wall.

I used the modified pattern sizing chart and made it out of 4 inch squares instead of 9 inch squares. I did the echo quilting at the sit and sew and am very happy with the results. (needs binding -- ick)

Between Saturday quilting at home and Sunday at the sit and sew I was able to get quite a bit accomplished all my Mug Rugs got prepared for quilting and these two are waiting on finishing. 

I finally finished the blue modern for the guild donation 

I also worked on quilting my string "star" 

Just some straight line quilting using my new walking foot. (needs Binding -- ick)

I got the elephant parade and t-shirt quilt pinned and ready for quilting -- I might be able to get this one finished this week and ready for the show. 

I must have been on a quilting high because after the sit and sew I also put together the bonus block for the block of the month -- it's a lotus flower block.

and nearly cut my thumb off with the rotary cutter (but no blood on the project-- so score for me) 

I know what I need to finish up by Friday this week in time to take it to Kernersville by 5pm. 

-- stitch up all mug rugs in progress (I believe there are 8 or 10)

-- Make tea cup pincushions (5 in progress currently -- would like to get at least 10 made) 

-- bind string star, storm at sea and designers star 

-- quilt elephant parade 

-- finish up paper piece (maybe) 

-- rewash quilts as needed 

-- pick up raffle quilt (yay a shopping trip)

-- finish up all crochet works in progress with detail work and eyes 

We shall see what I am able to accomplish. 

another Happy Note of my weekend was surprising Brenda Rothrock with a triple chocolate cake for her birthday -- she surely deserved a sweet surprise. 

That's the dish for now -- happy quilting everyone. 

New baby

As people that have been reading my blog for a while know I have been wanting a Singer featherweight for a while but things have fallen through on this front for me. I however still wanted a small machine to take to classes and on trips and after my negative experience with the Pixie Plus and then again at Hancock I had almost given up hope that something that was of quality didn't have to cost a fortune and could still be light weight. Then I saw this posting by Clover and Violet and knew I had found a match for me. I'm funny about what and where I order things from online -- especially when it is a mechanical items because you never know what your getting and I like to be able to make simple returns. The hubby and I were out shopping this weekend during one of my quilting breaks and stumbled upon something that made me sequel and give a happy dance right there in the store, at Target of all places. 
 
OMG Cuteness!! She is sew cute and so far has exceeded my expectations for this little machine. I tested her out with some of the mug rugs I put together this weekend and she sews a nice stitch  isn't to loud, goes at a smooth and nice speed and is easy to thread. Now I do miss my presser foot up down and needle position buttons and the thread spool is a little short but for traveling purposes it looks like a winner --- I need a little bag for transporting (mostly to ensure I don't forget tools or my presser foot) but she will be filling my lunch hour with sewing and that makes for a happy day. 

April weekend #3

There are only 10 more days till the upcoming Kerner's Folly Spring Fling on May 3 and 4. I am going to be helping out the guild by taking the raffle quilt with me and selling tickets. Isn't in beautiful and some lucky person could buy it for as little as a dollar (or 7 tickets for $5) Kelly is an amazing quilter and I hope this helps draw in money as well as interest in the Triad Modern Guild. 

With the deadline approaching the weekend was full of more quilting and projects being made. 

•  
• I worked on finishing up my 80's swap projects and need to make one more thing before I ship her out -- by Friday (EEEKK!!!). The quote didn't turn out quite like I planned but I am still happy with the results -- Back to the Future is one of her Favorite movies so I am hoping she is pleased. 
  
• 
• My bonus item for my 80's swap is something closer to my love from the 80's -- but another reference to one of her favorites.
 
• I started on many more mug rugs -- there are 8 waiting to be sandwiched and quilted. 
• I am up to 13 pin cushions -- waiting for backing and filling 
  
• This week I got 2 crochet animals nearly finished -- both need eyes and the owl needs a beak. A 2nd hippo is nearly completed as well. 
  

The trouble with events is deciding what to push through and finish and what to either take unfinished (not sure how I feel about that) or push through for the sake of finishing. The benefits of taking something unfinished is it could then be made larger or smaller depending on what the person is looking for. Things in this category are .... 

• Elephant Parade (just a top) -- 6 hours
• City Scape (half quilted) -- 7 hours
• String X quilt (just a top) -- 5 hours
• Koi Mix up (just a top -- currently in 2 pieces) -- 4 hours
• Storm at Sea Topper (just a top) -- 4 hours
• Storm at Sea Runner (needs binding) --1.5 hours

Looks like another busy week ahead -- oh and there are two traveling stash boxes coming my way so check back soon. One came today and is posted here.

Happy Quilting everyone --- and oh yeah here's the dish

Coconut Cake for James' going away party late last week.

 

April Weekend #2 -- time to buckle down

I went into the weekend with hope and anticipation that I was going to accomplish so many things but it seems to me that I ended up spinning my wheels. 

I got some things accomplished --- 

• I sewed one of my 80's swap projects completed and the other is about 30% done. I am stopping at the quilt shop this evening for some technical help which I think the answer will be applique.
  ( Say Anything)
   (Back to the Future)
• My Blooming flower is completed and washed -- but it's raining in NC so I will photograph it tomorrow. 
• Blue Modern will get binding tonight to complete to take to the guild meeting tomorrow.
• Storm at Sea table runner is put together and quilted -- needs binding (Oh, how I loath binding). 
  
• I started 6 mug rugs / pin cushions --- I haven't decided which they will be at this point. I have 2 I know will be mug rugs and the others could go either way at this point. 
  
  
  
• Crochet critter parts are all ready for assembly -- maybe this afternoon. (2 hippos and an Owl are pending).
• No progress on the Zakka Swap but I did plan a layout and pulled the batting from my scraps.
• I also made another UFO -- I know I said I wasn't but in playing with the scraps and this new magazine I got  -- I couldn't resist.

 The project I started out making and the finished project were not the same due my limited ability to follow directions. I love the finished project and it gave me a chance to try out string quilting. --- Here's what I ended up with. 

• I got another drawer fo fabrics more organized as well and transformed this  into this

Not to bad for spinning my wheels. I need to determine if I am going to put boarders on the elephant parade quilt and that will be a quick finish as well. Much more to work on in the upcoming 3 weeks before the craft show and some display props that need repainting but I feel that it will all fall into place. 

 

In other exciting news -- I have agreed to take over monitoring the traveling stash boxes and ensure that everybody knows where to look to grab a chance at getting one of these lovely boxes. Thanks for Sewingly Along for thinking of me to take on this endeavor. I do have a traveling box coming soon and will hopefully be posting about it later this week. 

Happy Quilting Everyone and that's the dish for now.

My Little Corner of the World

Well I got the creative space cleaned up enough this weekend to offer a tour. I have moved my creating space a few times and now occupy the largest bedroom in the house because really how much room does on need to sleep.

I love to find things in thrift stores and re-purposing them. My princess chair as it is called was acquired at a thrift shop downtown Winston Salem for $3, cleaned,  spray painted and recovered. The table has been around the family for a while and just needed those white legs and skirting painted black. the little shelf in the wall is a dollar find just spray painted. There is a 4 cube behind the table hiding paperwork, extra tools I rarely use and a scrap bin (when it gets full I force myself to put them in the bigger organized scrap container). One of my favorite things is my tool chest (that needs to be painted) it houses all my quilting tools that are regularly used -- that's 11 compartments of organization.

In front of my table is a book shelf with numerous things that I collect and my crafting books.

My UFO Box sits over there as a constant reminder to not start more projects unless they will fit in the box. I am currently breaking this rule but the other project is the huge paper piece that is in the process of being quilted. I want to keep UFo's to a minimum and find that this is a good place to start.

Often times when projects are waiting for washing or waiting to be sandwiched they end up on the ladder. My CD case sits beside this with all my 80's and 90's  toys. (Can you tell I love things that are colorful?) -- ignore the black table that's in awful shape and it gets used to  hold up large quilts when quilting and actually belongs in the closet. 

Speaking of the closet -- yeah its full of craft stuff also. This large cabinet was something my husband's grandfather made for his workshop and was going to be tossed when his grandmother was moving. I really need to find a scrapbooker that could put some of this stuff to better use because that's what most of it is (and beads, yarn and miscellaneous fabrics that are not for quilting). 

Up next is the repainted and recovered hope chest and my design wall.  A huge felt curtain that I added grommets to for removal if anyone comes to stay with us. (Batting roll -- another thing that should be in the closet). 

Part of my Wonderland collection occupies an antique cabinet that my step father gave to me before his passing. 

On the other side of the door we have quite possibly the largest dresser in the world (just short of the one in High Point). It houses fabric in the bottom 4 drawers and one of the top drawers has things like stabilizers, freezer paper and project baggies in it. The others are more tools from my days as a scrapbooker and files. 

One day all the fabric will look like this and be organized by color or projects.I have decided that I am going to stop buying fabric until I can get a good deal of this made into projects (yeah I didn't believe me either, so we will go with until it all gets organized). The good news with refolding is that it is promoting me to purge some fabrics that I will either be putting online to sell or sending to the guild stash. 

 

That's my space I hope you enjoyed the tour. I have realized I need to do more purging and stop holding onto so many supplies for crafts I don't do really enjoy any more. 

Happy Quilting Everyone. 

April weekend #1

So with March being so slim on completed projects I was determined to get a jump on projects this month and really use my time more effectively -- and the extra motivation of the upcoming craft show defiantly helps. 

It was a beautiful weekend here in the Triad and I got to sew all day both days with the windows open.

For starters I completed (ish) the opt of the Elephant parade quilt -- I am stuck on boarders. I can't decide if it needs them or not or what I would do if I did put a boarder. Right now it's an excellent crib or child throw size. I need some feedback on this one. 

Secondly I stitched up the top of a table runner using up some of my extra storm at sea blocks. I need to add a small purple border to this one and layer her up for quilting. I may be able to knock this project out this week as it is only about 12 inches wide and 28 long . 

I got the boarder put on the blue modern charity quilt -- now to re-iron, layer, quilt and bind by the 16th. 

I got my required block of the month finished and I love this one. 

I worked on the cityscape quilt and got about half the quilting done but forgot to take a picture. I think it's because my thread kept breaking and I was getting tired so I just folded it back up to move it off my table so I wouldn't loose my motivation. I got the tree, brick, sidewalk and a few of the flowers finished. All I have to go are the remaining flowers -- about 15 flowers worth, the sashing and the boarder. 

I started refolding my fabric stash it was looking bad and running out into a pile on the floor. See how things are just crammed in there (it was this times 4 plus a paper box of fabrics ) this is a drawer I haven't started.

Now drawer one looks like this and most of the excess from the paper box is in there as well. I haven't sorted by color or project yet because I can't have all the fabric sitting out while I finish folding due to my for legged helpers that would keep knocking piles over.

OH wait wasn't there something else .........

Oh yeah -- I finished the blooming flower. 

It's in the wash waiting for a real reveal 

Happy Quilting Everyone -- May April be prosperous for you as well. 

seriously there is nothing more to see here 

Just Kidding -- you guys get a pre wash picture

That's the dish for now.