FAB reveal

After the last of the FAB challenge packages arrived, it was time to round everyone up for the reveal. The challenge fabric was a piece that reminded us a bit of winter sky so it was dubbed "Baby, Its Cold Outside" but a winter theme was not required.


Norma had my name this round and made me these lovely placemats to brighten up a dreary winters day. The florals were some she had used when she and I were sewing together in cyberspace on our Daisy Chain tops. Additionally, she made me this wonderful sturdy tote bag that is lined with the same fabric. See the butterflies on the bag outer fabric? I love it!

I had Cher's name this time but got in such a hurry to mail it out that I did not take a picture of the completed project. She will post the small wallhanging I made her on her blog if you follow the link.

What fun! From the chat we 5 were having we all had fun making our pieces, changed our minds umpteen times about what we wanted to do and outdid ourselves again. Now I want to see some pictures, LOL!

a week of this and that

It would seem that this past week, creatively, was a bit of "this and that" or that I couldn't stay focused. I like having a variety of things to work on but the downside of that is that it takes longer to finish anything. The upside, I keeps me from getting bogged down and feeling like I have to keep plugging when I really just want to do something else for a few days.

For two days I hand quilted on the FAB friendship quilt. At this point the short top border and the long right side are done--well, almost done. I am about to turn the corner onto the bottom border.

I also started another stitchery project. Hanging head only because it is NOT on my 10n10 list. But this is will be an ongoing project so I am allowing it. I am SOOOO open to the power of suggestion and as usual "blame" Norma for it. She was telling me about their recent guild program with a trunk show from the designer of the Freckles Collection patterns. Norma had bought a couple of patterns and shared a link to the ones she had gotten. I in turn shared the link for one I had on hand---shown HERE. Cute, huh? Entirely true too, LOL.

Actually I had almost started on it earlier this year but hadn't checked the floss inventory to see what I needed to get. I have it all written up on a spreadsheet but then had to dig around in some cross stitch projects and two thread boxes to find it, LOL. By Thursday I had done that so was making a floss run to Hobby Lobby. Thankfully, they still carry DMC floss because our closest spot for crafting supplies (Walmart) no longer carries ANY floss--not even JP Coats, Anchor instead--- no floss period. Sheesh! I wound the floss on bobbins, entered the numbers on the inventory sheet, marked the muslin and put in a few stitches. Because there is a fair amount of running stitch on it, I decided to back this with a light weight batting. Do the running stitch like a long quilting stitch---see how that goes.

I think when I left off posting last week I was about to work on the block you see to the right---the appliqued January block from Nancy Halvorsen's book Calendar Quilts and Stitcheries (link in previous post) What fun to dig around in the fabric boxes to make my version--stash quilting! The fabric base, obviously is done as is the fusing and buttonhole applique stitching. I still need to embroider the verse and do a running stitch with floss on this as well as sew on some colored buttons on the snowman and add some beads for snow. I pulled the fabrics for the February block as well and will get to to work on it in a couple of days.

I will say that I was a bit confused on this project. The designs are all printed in reverse due to the fusible part but the lettering is not. I finally figured out where to put the verse but where I messed up was NOT shifting the pattern over for the tree placement. MY tree looks like it is growing out of the snowman's head rather than between it and the log cabin. Naturally I had marked this with pigma pen, not a pencil, where maybe the mark would erase or lighten. A little like working the crossword puzzle in ink and now I can't undo it?? Lesson learned! IIWII


Yesterday I was back to binding---ugh-- something I cannot show you (gift--might be spotted here). Only one long side to go. Close to another finish and to mailing it out.

I hadn't posted a picture of Skyler lately so here he is. Just before I took this he had been hiding UNDER the quilt. By the time I got the camera he decided the top of it worked just as well for napping purposes. (Mom, recognize the quilt?)

So looking forward---I still hope to get to the two donation quilts I have in my stack this week. The plan is to save the handwork, quilting or stitchery, for a few hours in the evening--or not, VBG.

At some point I need to run my Strip Twist quilt up to the long arm quilter as well but that is dependent on the weather. Lately the forecast at week's end has not been very pleasant and not the good driving conditions for making that 110 mile approximate, round trip. I thought a friend who is free on Fridays might want to go with me or I would have made the run earlier in the week.

Binding awaits------

what's up?

DJ just came in from an outdoor inspection and asked if I had my camera. Yes, of course! We have 7 yellow crocuses up, seemingly overnight! Someone forgot to tell them that we may be in for more nights in the 20's this weekend. Still, it does my heart good to see some outdoor color.

another edition of WIP Weds

Just to keep this from being a picture-less post, some of the scraps headed to the cutting basket for re-purposing. Some are in the FAB challenge (a tease for Cher, LOL) while others go in something else I whipped up. In between I worked on "Cheap Trick" but that doesn't look a whole lot differently that it did last week, LOL.

Since last week's edition of "WIP Weds", I have made and quilted two small pieces. Neither can be shown till after they have gone to their soon be be owners--blog readers, dontcha know. If I have to wait, then you do too!

Last night I stayed up till midnight working to finish that last little bit of binding on the challenge piece as it needs to get mailed ASAP. Woohoo! A finish to cross of my 10n10 list. The other piece is in a holding pattern till I get a bit of fabric I need for the binding but it will be complete soon enough. Almost another woohoo and cross off!

There were so few of us at the quilt meeting yesterday that I did a bit of the binding detail but then stopped to help Beverly pin a couple of her quilts. I had hoped to pin my "sisterhood of quilters" top but could not find it anywhere! I was just sure I had left it at the church and had not spotted it at home. In my search, I found some other things that I need at home and some fabric that I probably don't need but it should be used in some manner---maybe in that Trail Mix quilt since I am doing a donation sized version?? See what can be combined and made into a Snuggle Up? HERE is a shot of two I found hiding in the donation fabric last year so I may hit paydirt again. Once I got home and went on a "treasure hunt" it turned out Sisterhood was stuck under the quilt hoop and the piece I am hand quilting atop the armoire. It is so small and flat without any batting stuck in it and I completely missed it. It can wait. I can ask to use a nearby quilting pals pinning table if I want to quilt it bad enough.

When it looked like we would be finished in time for DJ and I to go out for our anniversary lunch, I headed home and picked him up. There is a fairly new restaurant called Effina's Italian Grille in Jacksonville near the JSU campus that we had not gone to yet so that was my choice, over our usual choice of the January catfish special at Top of the River. I know I reeked of garlic after eating a Caesar salad and a Tuscan Chicken sandwich but yum! Actually knowing that I had the quilt meeting, we had tried to go on Monday instead only to find out it was closed---who knew?--so this worked out much better. On the actual date, even.

I had to laugh at DJ though. The food, even the soup and salad, was a little slow coming out of the kitchen. DJ commented that he had gotten used to me calling him to the table and a plate of food or all the serving dishes were right there in front of him. LOL, it is true because if we have gone out to eat lately, it has been fast food or buffet style. In and out without the waiting to have the order taken, waiting for the food, waiting for the check..........color him spoiled.

So what is on tap for today? Need to get some bills made out and make the post office run in a bit but sewing wise, not sure. I am tempted to do something on my reward list since I did complete that deadline project---January block from Nancy Halvorsen's Calendar Quilts and Stitcheries. I am going to do the applique version, much like I did the "Be Attitudes" from last year. I could quilt though--there are two donation quilts (one is mine) in the closet, after all and a couple of my own things to address. Could get back to the "Cheap Trick" as well but the machine I need for the other two choices is already set up. Okay, following that sense of logic I KNOW I will do the applique block first as I KNOW I will turn around and quilt it after I finish it. Then quilt the other stuff. Yep, a plan is in place. The weather is probably going to be a bit iffy come the weekend so staying inside and quilting is the best bet.

Hope you get to work on something you want to do---------