What's Happening?

Not much in the way of sewing this past week, but I am hoping with my 2 upcoming days off I'll be able to get into the sewing room.  I have been looking forward to it for sure.    Now as I type this, I realize I have been sewing, just not with a machine.  I have been working on hand quilting the surprise Christmas quilt.  My goal is to try to get almost a 12-inch block done a day, so that it will be ready to mail out Thanksgiving weekend - fingers crossed.

Last Saturday, my husband and I ventured out for a day of auctioning.  There was one in the college town where my son is going to school, so of course while we were in the neighborhood we dropped off some food supplies that he asked for.  Should keep him for another week at this point - maybe.  The first auction was a household with so many nice furniture pieces, a lot of older pieces, some handmade.  There was a cabinet that I really wanted but not bad enough to pay the price that it ended up at - $95.  I think there were a lot of antique dealers attending that auction.  I came home with a Crock Rite bowl for $8.  I was happy. 

Auction #2 was later in the day.  There were quite a few guns there, so it drew in the crowd, but there was also some furniture as well as miscellaneous items.  A double-sized sleep by number bed went for $80 - a bargain for sure, but we really don't have room or need for any large furniture pieces.  Our bargain from that auction was a small Ball canning jar with clay marbles for $22 - we don't have any of those in our collection yet, or should I say my husband's collection. 

By the end of day, though, we were both tuckered out, so much so that husband slept in until 9 o'clock the next morning and he hardly ever sleeps in.

From Sunday on this week, it has been the usual work routine.  Fingers crossed for a few days of sewing coming up though!

Computer woes

I knew it was coming.  I kept pushing it off.  My time ran out while trying to work my job.  Yep, it happened at the worst time.  My computer hard drive crashed.

It's been making a funny noise for about the last 3 months, but really acting up in the last 6 weeks.  I had one day where I spent 8 hours "repairing Windows", but I am pretty certain all the fuss was because of the hard drive.  It crashed this past Sunday.  I played around thinking it was Windows giving me trouble because of a corrupted file, but turns out it was a hardware issue.  Panic sets in, then hysteria because I am supposed to be working my job.  I work from home on the computer for the last 14 years.  No computer - no money to be made - no production for my company - we both lose.

Then I use a tablet to go to the website to look at the computer I was putting off ordering.  I really liked it, but with shipping it would not be here for a week at least.  Finally, I am thinking of replacing the hard drive, but it's Sunday and 6 o'clock when that idea comes to mind.  I think the local big box electronics store is closed, but it turns out they were open until 8.  So, off we go. 

Hard drive 60 bucks, same one as I had before.  I even got more sheep (or as the rest of the world calls it RAM) figuring if I am going to open the case, why not?  

I can't purchase a computer out of a store directly because they are all selling Windows 10, which is not compatible with my work - must be Windows 7 or 8.1.    Computers with those operating systems you order online.  

After installing programs and letting the computer run all of its updates, I am back in business as of work on Monday late morning for my start time.

So, no sewing time in the last 3 days, but I did sew for about 15 hours straight Saturday when the guys were off at camp for hunting.  I am in a mug rug phase right now.  Oh! and I did do a little hand quilting late last night after I was done working.  Love hand work!

Pineapples for Christmas

I belong to a few groups on Facebook, and in one group we had signups for a Christmas Lap Quilt swap back in December 2015 or January 2016.   They have various swaps throughout the year, but being that I was unemployed at the time I figured this was one I could participate in and not have to stress about purchasing a ton of fabric for because I had a bunch of Christmas fabrics in my stash - plus I had all year to work on it.

I am a Bonnie Hunter fan for the last few years and she has a bunch of free patterns on her blog page.  After browsing through them, I settled on the Pineapple Blossoms pattern.  This was going to be a controlled scrappy quilt, meaning that I limited it to about 20 different fabrics at most.

 This was in the layering and basting stage on the dining room table.

The backing is called Retro Christmas Houses by Makower.  I knew I wanted something more wintry instead of Christmas for the backing so that the quilt could be possibly used all winter.

Another reason that I chose the Pineapple Blossom pattern was that I knew I wanted to hand quilt the quilt but I figured time would not allow for intricate work, so simple in this case was better.

I believe it has to be in the mail by the end of November, and I am a third of the way there with the quilting.  I figure if I do a little bit each day, it'll work out.  Not in panic mode yet.

Work in Progress

When I saw the article on this book, I knew I had to have it.  Homestyle Quilts (follow the link for a free download) by Kim Diehl and Laurie Baker is an awesome book.  I fell in love instantly with the Farmhouse Furrows quilted project and knew it was on my to-do list.  I have to be honest in that I do not purchase many books, but this one was well worth it!

The top is pieced.  This is my version.  Each block finishes at 3 inches.  I followed all directions as written except for those half-square triangles (HST).  I actually cut the fabric larger than directed and after sewing and pressing, I cut them down to the correct size.  Otherwise, they tended to stretch out of shape for me. 

I improvised and used a fabric out of my stash for the border.  I wasn't sure at first if I really liked it, but it is growing on me the more I look at it.

Overall, I am happy with how it turned out.  I think I will machine quilt this one.  I am not sure where I will use it yet in the house - Who knows, maybe I'll decide to sell it even.  That will give me an excuse to make another one.

Satisfaction in Small Projects

I love working on smaller projects maybe a little more than large bed quilts.  Smaller quilts let me experience the satisfaction of actually finishing a project, whereas large bed quilts can take years for me for different reasons.

 These were done during my flying geese phase with mostly reproduction prints.  They are now finished with quilting and binding.

 This wallhanging was made with left over half-square triangles (HST) from this project - Wedding Quilt.  I hate throwing small usable pieces away, and this way it also reminds me of that particular quilt that I had designed and made for my relatives' wedding.  This one finishes out at around 18 x 27 inches.

This little quilt (15 x 15 inches) was made and thought up for a doll quilt swap that I participated in.  In fact, I loved this one so much, I had to make one for myself!  The log cabin blocks finish at 3-1/2 inches.  The snowman and stars are appliqued in place with a machine blanket stitch.

 Another doll quilt swap for the month of February I believe.  I knew I wanted pinwheels and I loved this particular pink fabric from the High Street line (Moda), so it was charted out on graph paper.  The heart-shaped flowers were my way of getting hearts into the quilt instead of being an in-your-face Valentine's quilt.

And lastly, these matching little quilts were made as end table toppers for my living room.  They are identically pieced quilts, again mostly from reproduction fabrics.  Love that pop of pinks in them! These finished around 18 x 24 inches.

Do you have a preference on the size of your projects?

Fabric Shopping!

So, what's a person to do when you are bored?  You browse through fabric selling sites of course!

I am a scrap quilter for the most part at this point, and in the past 6 years or so I have become a lover of the Civil War reproduction fabrics.  So, being a scrap quilter, I do not usually buy large quantities of any one particular fabric.  My go-to size are the half-yard pieces and most places on the web sell in 1 yard minimum sizes, which can limit where I purchase from.  I have been really good in my purchasing this year, but then I found Fabric Shack.  They sell half yard pieces!!  Super quick shipping and awesome shipping prices too.  So exciting to me!

They were having a sale too!  Except for the plum and red in the top row, these are all Marcus fabrics.  Love Marcus fabrics!  The 2 leaf prints right front row are from the Past Endearment line.  The navy blue and the red in the front row are from designer Paula Barnes.

Love the pattern on this blue one - reminds me of pills or capsules.  It's Hannah's Heritage - Judie Rothermel for Marcus fabrics.

I have a hard time buying reds that I like, but I thought these would work well for my taste.  The red on the left is actually a Christmas print (Always the Season) by Faye Burgos.  Middle is from Gathering Basket - Kim Diehl - Henry Glass, and on the right is R&B Tavern - Paula Barnes - Marcus fabrics.

I got a few more - the paisley you have already read about, but the blue with flowers and the red on the far right are also from Gathering Basket - Kim Diehl - Henry Glass.  The polka dot on the far left is really more orange in person (I am gathering a few more orange fabrics for some pieced pumpkins).  It is from the Grateful Harvest line, Spx Fabrics.

I think I'm gonna have fun fitting these into future projects.  Don't you?

Changing with the times

Wow!  I can't believe it's been over a year since I've posted.

Lots of changes since then.  Youngest graduated from high school and in his first year of college.  Oldest moved back home in December.  I lost my job in December two weeks before Christmas.  Husband was dealing with an eye problem for the first half of this year, and our oldest cat passed in January from old age.  I believe she was 21.

So, with all the changes, quilting and sewing time has changed too.  Still sewing but needed to adjust to not having a sewing room any longer and an interesting work schedule with my new job. 

I have had a few finishes over the past year and a half as well.  From this post about piecing my blue and yellow string quilt  I am happy to say it's done!  It's a throw-sized quilt that was machine quilted on the diagonal to match the string blocks.  It's just a happy quilt I think.

Also finished my black and yellow quilt.  Being from Pittsburgh Steelers country, I wanted a black and gold quilt but not in your face football theme - this is what I settled on after collecting the fabrics over a few months. It's also a throw-sized quilt.

I am very pleased with this one too.  It's also machine quilted, this time following the stripes in the ditch.  The back is a vintage piece of fabric that just screamed to me to be used with this quilt.

Oh!!! I almost forgot.  I finished a quilt this past spring that I had been working on hand quilting over the past, oh, I don't know - 7 winters or so.  This is a twin-sized quilt.  I was so excited to finally finish this one.  I was even anticipating entering it into a few quilt shows but my schedule has not allowed for that yet this year, so maybe next year...

Close up of the hand quilting in the large space.

It's my day off today, and so I am off to work on a few more projects!