More of the Same...

Yup, more kleenex cozies...

And, another LOVE 

- Zipper Bag by Sweetwater.
With a coordinating kleenex cozy.

front

 I think I've made 5 of these bags so far.

back

back of kleenex cozy

On Tuesday, I spent several hours at 

The Electric Needle...

renting the longarm quilting machine.

I quilted two quilts.  

In four hours.

Not bad, hey?

I did cheat, though...

and used a computer program.

I am thinking that next time I

will do some free-motion quilting.

I have one of the quilts completely done.

I am 2/3's done with hand sewing
the binding on the second one.

Then...
launder and photograph.

I am so excited to be getting these done!

In between the all-important kleenex tissue cozies,

of course.

The One About Benedict Cumberbatch...

Because all of my regular season television shows have ended, I've been searching for something to watch this summer.  Graceland is starting next week, as well as Rookie Blue.  And, of course, those are the only two shows (I know of) that I am looking forward to watching.  And, wouldn't you know it, they are both on at 9:00 on Thursday nights.  What?  

So, when I asked a few friends what they are watching, one of the shows I was told about was the Sherlock series which streams on NetFlix (thanks, Brenis!). Having seen Robert Downey Jr play Sherlock (with Jude Law as his trusty sidekick, Watson), and having watched Elementary from the beginning on network tv, I wasn't sure that I was ready to watch more Sherlock.

HA!  Was I wrong!  I am totally in love with this series.  If you have not seen it, you really should. If you are vaguely aware of who Benedict Cumberbatch is - and especially if you have no idea who he is - you will be in for a real treat!  This show meets and exceeds every expectation!  Funny, intelligent, clever, dramatic, etc., etc.. 

As for Benedict Cumberbatch?  Let me just say that I find him very appealing.

The only drawback...only 3 shows per season.  But, each show is an hour and a half long.  Which does help.  

I have watched 8 of the 9 shows and once that last one is watched, I will be waiting, along with all of the other Sherlock/Benedict Cumberbatch fans, for Season 4.

If you have a few moments, you really should watch this video...

And Then There Were Ten...

Today is National Sewing Machine Day!  In honor of this, Naomi Janome and I did some sewing. Big surprise, I know.  ~grin~

More Kleenex tissue cozies.  Ten of them.  I've been going through my fabric stash and finding bits and pieces that aren't suitable for much more than cutting into pieces for my scrap bins.  But, some were definitely large enough to make tissue cozies.  

And, I made two more earbud cases.  I like the little square ones better than the round ones.  I made one back in April (see it here), but this time I didn't square up the corners.  Probably because I used fusible fleece, so the little case is thicker.  It finished at 3" square.  Too cute, in my opinion.  

I have a couple of big projects to start this next week.  I'm hoping to finish one and make good progress on the other one.  I'll keep you informed.  

Until next time...



"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Wild Churn Dash...

I finished this quilt top this morning.  Finally.  

There was much more to it than I thought there would be.  More than just fun sewing.  No simple just sew the blocks together, nosirree!!!  Changing out backgrounds and well, you just don't even want to know...and I really don't want to think about it.  ~grin~ Suffice it to say that I am very happy to have finished this in the amount of time it took, which was 11 days.  You know, I am way too anal for my own good.  I try really hard to ignore that about myself, but there are days when it is impossible!  For instance, the cherry backgrounds on two of the bottom blocks bothers me...but that was the lesser of two evils (so to speak), so I will live with it.  

I do actually love this, though.  Why?  Because it's been a wip for 5+ years and it is now finished...and it looks pretty much as I always thought it would.  I love churn dashes and monkey wrenches and I particularly love that big 8 inch half-square triangle border!  It measures 64 inches square...a perfect lap quilt size.  

Now, of course, it will go in with my other flimsies...and one day become a finished quilt!  


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Everything About It..

I love this bright yellow color...

I think it's called Mimosa.

I love a linen hand towel.

I love that there is a loop for hanging

(though, in this bathroom there no hook to hang it on).

I love that linen dries quickly.

I love that this is something I made.

I put in a 1.5 inch hem all around.   And, mitered corners....

I made a second towel.

For the kitchen...a dishtowel.

This towel has narrower hems.

And, I put the hanging loop across a corner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I did replace the monkey wrench (block 6)

with a different brown print.

I am hoping to get the last 3 blocks done today so that I can start working on that big 8 inch hst border.



"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Is This Fun??

Gosh.  What a day Naomi Janome and I had yesterday!  I did as much ripping out as I did sewing.  Trying to not be too anal about color/print/square placement, but sometimes...and much too often yesterday...I had to change things around.  

But, I had a total of 5 blocks done!  I was very happy about that!
Here are the three I did yesterday...

block 3

block 4

block 5

After my bit of frustration, I decided that I am going to do just 9 of these blocks.  

Today, I did just one more block...

ohdear...I just now noticed that the monkey wrench blocks in this row (blocks 4 and 6) are different color, but of the same fabric. Darn! Well, I will decide what to do about that tomorrow.    

I made something for myself today.  The lighting is not good for photo-taking right now, so will get some photos tomorrow.

Have a good night!



"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

This is Fun!!

When I was going through my fabric the other day, I ran across something I had all but forgotten about.  A  bundle of fabric and some already made blocks.  Here's the story on that.  

About a million years ago...okay, only 5 years ago...I belonged to a block swap.  (Actually, I belonged to several in a 3 year period.  I'll have to think about doing that sort of thing again.)  At any rate, April of 2010 (see what I mean...a million years ago!) was my month to have blocks made.  I opted for churn dash and monkey wrench blocks...one of each was made by the other 11 quilters.  I got back from 10 of them, so I have 20 blocks that are sized at 12 1/2 inches.  The fabric collection is Wildrose by Brannock and Patek for Moda.    

I designated this weekend for fun sewing, remember?  So, I thought...why not?  I spent a few hours yesterday looking at the fabrics and making sure I knew how I wanted to proceed.  And, I cut squares...and more squares!  Lots of squares!  Some to make into half-square triangles and some to make into 4-patch blocks and some to remain as squares.

Here is a photo of the original quilt I was inspired by.  I would happily give credit, but even back then, I lost track of the information.  I apologize for this...it is a beautiful quilt, for sure!   

For some reason, Tag and I were up at 4:00 this morning.  No reason...more his idea than mine.  But, there it is. So, by the time 7:30 rolled along, 90% of the chores I wanted to do today were done.  All that was left to do was laundry (which is still waiting for me).  So, I played.

The first thing I did was to rethink the size of the quilt.  With 20 blocks, the quilt would have 4 blocks across and 5 blocks down.  With the added pieces, the blocks will finish at 16 inches.  Add in the 8 inch borders and the quilt would measure 80 x 96 inches.  Hmmmm...nope.  I have no need for a quilt that large.  Okay, time to think about what I am going to do with the quilt.  Keep it or sell it? More than likely, I will keep it.  Just because.  So, what will I do with it?  More than likely, it will end up as a lap quilt.  I could go 3 across and 4 down...that would put it at 64 x 80 inches...which is a little large for me as a lap quilt.  Well, then...how about 3 blocks across and 3 blocks down?  That would work...64 x 64 inches.  Okay, but I have 20 blocks.  Well, I could make 2 quilts, I suppose. Haha...we shall see.  Let's get one done, first.  ~grin~ 

All of that being said, I am going to play it by ear and just plug away at this until it's where I want it to be.  So.  Here is the first block I completed...  

block 1

 And, here's the second one...

block 2

Remember, the churn dash and monkey wrench blocks were already done.  All I am doing is adding 7 pieces to one side and the top or bottom.  One block at a time.

It is definitely going to be interesting to put this together!  

It is a gloomy, rainy day.  Perfect for sewing and listening to music.


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Short Week...Small Finishes...

It's been a short week around here...I feel as if I didn't do too much at all.  

I went through my fabric stash...only filled one small bag with what I didn't want to keep.  I guess that says a lot for the really thorough job I did a year or so ago, hey?  And, not buying (much) fabric unless I need it to finish something off certainly plays a large part in that, too!  I still have more than I need, but it is mostly in collections for specific projects.  

I made a few more kleenex cozies...is there never an end to these?  ~grin~  They are so easy to make that, by now, I could make them in my sleep.  Here's the link to the tutorial in case you'd like to make some.

And, I made 2 linen napkins.  Back in February, I gave Lindy 4 linen napkins and promised her that I would make 2 more (so that there was one for every member of her family)...finally got them done!  

As with the previous 4, these have the more formal finish...1 inch hems with mitered corners (no photo to show these).

And, just for the heck of it, I made this LOVE zipper pouch by Sweetwater.  You may purchase their pattern here.

I love making these...with slight variations, they have a different look.  Here are the others I have made...each one so different than the one before.  See this one, and this one, and this one.  

So, that's what I have accomplished this week.  I need to check my list to see what I'll be working on next week.  In the meantime, it's the weekend, so time for some fun sewing! 



"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Started and Finished...

I needed to make another gift for my Godmother/Aunt Bev.  Why? Because her birthday is June 1.  Apparently, I am unable to think more than two weeks in advance!  This, though, was a quick and easy idea...to make a little pillow to match the quilt I made for her for Mother's Day...see the quilt here.  

Here's what I did.  I made a 32 patch measuring 8 x 16 with 2 1/2 inch squares.  I didn't use batting, but I did do some topstitching.  I lined the front with a piece of Kona cotton (so the raw edges would be protected) and backed the pillow cover with a small floral print. I made an envelope closure at the end of the pillow.  And, I even made my own pillow insert!  
  

front

back

Here's a photo of Godmother/Aunt Bev from today...enjoying the sunshine in Eau Claire.

Godmother/Aunt Bev

Hope your holiday weekend is fun and safe.


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

The Gathering...

I mentioned a month or so ago that I had come late to the Anna Maria Horner party (see those words here).  I  just received my May Gathering and am so in love with it.  Actually, I am pretty much in love with everything I see of her work, whether it be fabric or handwork or patterns.  In my mind, there is a fine line between being obsessed and addicted. 

Obsession...
: someone or something that a person thinks about constantly or frequently.

Addiction...
: an unusually great interest in something or a need to do or have something


I will admit - without hesitation - to being addicted.  It is only because I am addicted that I have the last 3 'gatherings'...having them makes me think about them.  Frequently.  So, I think I am a bit obsessed, too.  Don't you?

At any rate...here is the May Gathering...

photo borrowed from Anna Maria's website

This gathering includes 6 cotton prints, 4 cotton wovens (from her newest collection, Loominous), and 2 cotton solids.

I cannot wait to use the fabrics...I think I have something special and very much far in the future in mind.  Time will tell.

I have 3 months left of this addiction and/or obsession...that will give me a lot of Anna Maria Horner fabrics to play with!

In the meantime, I am working on my to-do list and hope to have a few things to show you sometime soon.



"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

She Likes It...

The quilt I made for my Godmother/Aunt Bev was well-received... 

Please say a prayer for her...she has myeloma (a cancer of the blood) and is receiving comfort care at a nursing home in Eau Claire.  




"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11